總部設於印尼的「國際森林研究中心」（CIFOR），11日發佈一份分析了67個紙漿廠開發計畫的文件，其內容指出：由於對新興紙業市場上使用的木材來源及成本持不正確之認知，導致國際投資者在全球各地投資的上百億美元，成為財政上有高風險、環境上也造成負面破壞的投資活動。
國際森林研究中心執行長凱莫維茲（David Kaimowitz）說：「令人訝異的，金融機構竟沒有興趣來了解這些請求貸款的紙漿公司如何獲得便宜的木材。實際上，這些公司過分高估了可從木材種植園合法取得木材的數量，如此一來，他們要能符合生產目標的方法就是取用非永續砍伐的自然森林，以及花較高成本，由遠方運來木材。」
國際森林研究中心的研究員發現在印尼的兩家公司──「亞洲紙漿及紙業公司」（APP）和「亞洲太平洋資源國際股份有限公司」（APRIL），就是金融機構未適當對纖維來源把關的清楚例證。
國際森林研究中心資深科學家貝爾及其共同研究者在研究中指出，「1990年代，APP與APRIL向國際資本市場貸款超過150億美元，他們告訴投資者他們有低價且永續供應的纖維來源。但是，這兩家公司卻持續依靠蘇門答臘的自然森林作為他們木材來源，供應60-70％木材。這幾年來，沒有一家公司實現他們自己的造林目標。」
國際主要金融機構及國際投資銀行在過去十多年已經投注了400億美元在紙漿廠開發計畫，以因應開發中國家越來越高的生產量能。為符合快速成長的全球性紙需求，分析師預測，在2015年前這些公司會再投資540億美元，其中以巴西、中國、印尼、烏拉圭和波羅的海諸國為多。
在這些國家，廉價的木材是現階段擴張的主要因素，因為木材纖維可能佔北美和歐洲的紙漿製造業者高於60％以上的現金成本。
Incorrect assumptions about the origins and the cost of wood used in emerging market pulp mills has led international investors to channel tens of billions of dollars worldwide into financially risky and environmentally destructive ventures, finds an analysis of 67 pulp mill projects released Thursday by the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research.
"Financial institutions have shown a surprising lack of interest in understanding how the pulp companies requesting loans are going to get all this cheap wood," said David Kaimowitz, director general of CIFOR. "In reality, some of these mills have vastly overestimated what’s legally available from timber plantations. So the only way they can meet production targets is through unsustainable logging of natural forests or by shipping in wood from distant sources at a much higher cost."
CIFOR's researchers found that two companies in Indonesia, Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd. (APRIL), are clear instances in which financial institutions failed to conduct proper due diligence on fiber supply.
Christopher Barr, CIFOR senior scientist and coordinator of the study said, "During the 1990s, APP and APRIL borrowed over US$15 billion from international capital markets by telling investors that they have sustainable supplies of very low-cost fiber. However, both companies continue to rely on the clearing of natural forests in Sumatra for 60-70 percent of their wood supply, and each is still years away from meeting its own plantation development targets."
Over the last decade, leading financial institutions and international investment banks have poured over US$40 billion into pulp mill projects, aimed at increasing capacity in the developing world. To meet growing global demand for paper, analysts expect companies to invest another US$54 billion by 2015, much of it in Brazil, China, Indonesia, Uruguay, and the Baltic States.
Low wood costs are a major factor driving expansion of the sector in these countries, as wood fiber can account for up to 60 percent of pulp producers' cash costs in North America and Europe.
