This study analyses the background to the rise of Chile as a major wood chip exporter, and assesses the environmental impact and relative economic importance of the Chilean wood chip industry. Chile is acting as a ‘surrogate’ for lost Australian hardwood chip exports to Japan. Compared to other countries, the wood chip industry in Chile has had a disproportionate impact on its remnant native forests and is essentially predicated on unsustainable forest management practices. Despite this, the relative economic importance of Chile's export wood chip industry is low when compared to value‐added forest product export industries such as chemical
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