Competitiveness Overview of Four Brazilian Non-timber Forest Products

This study aimed to analyze the Brazilian competitiveness in the world market of the main non-timber forest products (NTFPs) exported by Brazil during the subperiods from 2006 to 2010, and from 2011 to 2016. The products were selected based on their relevance in the Brazilian NTFP export. In order to analyze competitiveness, we used the competitiveness matrix, which is given by the performance point of view. In the construction of this matrix, the vertical axis was represented by the Revealed Symmetric Comparative Advantage index while the horizontal axis was represented by the growth rate. The results showed that natural rubber was in the “missed opportunities” quadrant in the first period and in the “retreat” quadrant in the second period analyzed. On the other hand, honey, mate and cashew nut were positioned in the “optimum” sector in both periods, although cashew nut had showed a decrease both in the world growth rate and in the RSCA in the second period studied. In the final analysis, we concluded that Brazil is competitive in exports of honey and mate, it has been losing competitiveness in exports of cashew nuts, and is in decline as regards natural rubber exports.