Grow Bamboo And Get Rich

[LaoPo]

I read an interesting article about BAMBOO growing in Fujian province in China (the province opposite of Taiwan). This chap started in 1990, growing bamboo, since he needed to make a living for his family.

His business is huge now and even listed on the Frankfurt stock market*; his turnover is huge:

"For the whole year (2009), Lin expects the returns to reach 55 million euros and earnings 25 million euros."

Yes, you're reading correctly.

Demand for bamboo grows as wood substitute and food

By Daniela Meyer (China Daily)

Updated: 2009-11-16 07:54

Growing up as a farmer's son, Lin Zuojun used to play hide-and-seek with his friends in the bamboo forest of Fujian province. Little did he know back then that he would one day make millions of yuan by selling those most common plants of the region.

Workers at Asian Bamboo deliver bamboo timber. The Frankfurt Stock Exchange-listed company is benefiting from the increasing demand for bamboo as an alternative to traditional wood resources. [File photo]

Harvesting more than 1.6 million bamboo trees and 25,000 tons of bamboo shoots every year, his company, Asian Bamboo, is China's biggest bamboo producer today.

It is also one of the only three Chinese companies listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in Germany - the third-largest stock exchange in the world.

"We just had a very successful capital increase where we sold all of our 1.275 million new shares to institutional investors in a very short period of time," Lin said in an interview with China Business Weekly. The proceeds of the new issue totaled 25.5 million euros.

This successful outcome is a reflection of the company's strong performance in the first six months of 2009. Revenues increased by 42 percent to 25.8 million euros. After taxes the profit was 13 million euros, an increase of 64 percent compared with the same period last year.

For the whole year, Lin expects the returns to reach 55 million euros and earnings 25 million euros.

It is a profit he would have never even dreamed of when he started working as a distributor trading canned bamboo shoots in 1990. Back then, he didn't have any notion of founding a company.

"I just wanted to make a decent living for me and my family," he said.

But soon he discovered that, due to the country's rapid developing economy during the 1990s and rising living standards, the demand for healthy food and substitutes for wood grew fast.

"I thought I could make even more money in growing and producing the products I sold," he explained. He started to save money and bought his first plantation in 2002.

Asian Bamboo now holds land contract agreements for 18 bamboo plantations in Fujian province covering an area of 29,000 hectares.

Next year, they will add another 11,000 hectares. "We invest most of our capital in expansion, because with more plantations we will have more return", Lin explained.

His company focuses on two main business segments: bamboo trees and organically grown bamboo shoots. Due to a shortage of domestic wood supplies and the new trend to eat ecologically grown food, there is fast-growing demand for both bamboo products.

With sales doubling between 2001 and 2006 to $800 million, the organic food market in Asia is booming.

At the same time, China's need for wood is expected to reach 260 million cu m in 2020, with an expected domestic production of only 139 million cu m. These conditions have pushed up the price of wood imports and domestic wood supplies.

As a result, Asian Bamboo profits from the increasing interest in alternative sources such as bamboo, a plant that needs only three years to grow.

The Chinese government is supporting bamboo production through various subsidies.

Lin said that he believes using bamboo in a variety of applications will become more popular.

"We continue to grow fast and will double the size of our company every three years. All over the world, bamboo is being seen as a renewable resource now. And we are in a prime position as a pioneer in this rapidly expanding market," Lin said.

"European investors are very interested in agriculture companies. They know that, with agriculture, you have stable revenues and profits. This is the main reason why we decided to go public in Germany," Lin said.

Asian Bamboo sells bamboo trees to trading companies within China that sell the material to manufacturers in industries such as flooring, furniture, construction and paper. Most of the company's edible bamboo shoots are sold to Japan.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2009...ent_8975436.htm

Your comments appreciated !

EDIT:

* http://www.asian-bamboo.com/en/profile/index.html

LaoPo

Edited November 17, 2009 by LaoPo

[jerrylee]

PBS Nova recent released documentary "Rat Attack"

Every 48 years, the inhabitants of the remote Indian state of Mizoram suffer a horrendous ordeal known locally as mautam. An indigenous species of bamboo, blanketing 30 percent of Mizoram's 8,100 square miles, blooms once every half-century, spurring an explosion in the rat population that feeds off the bamboo's fruit. The rats run amok, destroying crops and precipitating a crippling famine throughout Mizoram. NOVA follows this gripping tale of nature's capacity to engender human suffering and investigates the botanical mystery of why the bamboo flowers with clockwork precision every half-century.

[Gary A]

There are many different types of bamboo. Some grows very fast and the wood is hollow. Some types are nearly solid all the way through and of course grows slower. Another is giant bamboo which is popular for making furniture. It commonly grows to 6 inches in diameter. You would have to do market research to find the right market.

In the Loei area there is no market because everyone gets it free from the National forests. Bamboo shoots for food are easy to find. We took out at least 6 huge clumps from our two and a half rai yard and still have several clumps. YES, it grows well here.

[ozzydom]

The numbers as quoted look a bit iffy as bamboo poles similar to those pictured sell for 30 baht a pole locally.

[LaoPo]

The numbers as quoted look a bit iffy as bamboo poles similar to those pictured sell for 30 baht a pole locally.

Maybe you didn't read the prospectus with (financial) details* ?

Asian Bamboo is a Frankfurt stock listed company; meaning a company that is listed can't fool around with facts and figures. It would be a deadly sin to produce iffy numbers, I assure you.

The company is specialized (if that means anything to the Thai specialists on bamboo?) in growing:

"Moso bamboo is one of the fastest growing types of bamboo. Asian Bamboo AG focuses on Moso Bamboo as it believes the quality of Moso bamboo is higher than other species due to its rapid growth and its suitability for a wide range of uses."

from: http://www.asian-bamboo.com/en/profile/produkte.html

* Financial reports:

http://www.asian-bamboo.de/en/investor_rel...likationen.html

The reason why I posted this article is that I found it almost unbelievable that a (bamboo) company makes such a huge profit: almost 50% of the total turnover and that's enormous.

That's why I asked the question if growing bamboo could be done in Thailand (with Moso bamboo).

Moso bamboo: http://www.bamboonetwork.org/publications/...%20ABS_0110.pdf

LaoPo

Edited November 17, 2009 by LaoPo

[oodii]

... I asked the question if growing bamboo could be done in Thailand (with Moso bamboo).

Moso bamboo: http://www.bamboonetwork.org/publications/...%20ABS_0110.pdf

The above cited publication by bamboonetwork.org provides the answer:

Phyllostachys edulis (synonyms: Phyllostachys pubescens, Phyllostachys heterocycla; common English name: Moso Bamboo) is a bamboo species native to temperate regions (of China), with specific requirements for ranges of temperature and rainfall (detailed described by bamboonetwork.org). Such requirements cannot be met in tropical and subtropical regions of Thailand, except for some high-altitude areas.

In Chiang Mai, at an altitude of 300 meters above sea level, where I grow three species of Phyllostachys, including P. edulis, these bamboos can survive but do not thrive well, whereas it is said that they thrive quite well at the Royal Project in Doi Ang Khang (mountainous area of borderland to Burma).

[LaoPo]

... I asked the question if growing bamboo could be done in Thailand (with Moso bamboo).

Moso bamboo: http://www.bamboonetwork.org/publications/...%20ABS_0110.pdf

The above cited publication by bamboonetwork.org provides the answer:

Phyllostachys edulis (synonyms: Phyllostachys pubescens, Phyllostachys heterocycla; common English name: Moso Bamboo) is a bamboo species native to temperate regions (of China), with specific requirements for ranges of temperature and rainfall (detailed described by bamboonetwork.org). Such requirements cannot be met in tropical and subtropical regions of Thailand, except for some high-altitude areas.

In Chiang Mai, at an altitude of 300 meters above sea level, where I grow three species of Phyllostachys, including P. edulis, these bamboos can survive but do not thrive well, whereas it is said that they thrive quite well at the Royal Project in Doi Ang Khang (mountainous area of borderland to Burma).

Maybe you should go there and rent some land....?

Doi Ang Khang Mountain - Royal Ang Khang Research Station

The agricultural project station was set up in 1969 as a demonstration site for planting and researching flowering plants, temperate fruit trees, vegetables and other crops under the patronage of His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej. Primarily a research centre, it focuses on developing a wider variety of marketable produce for the local hill tribes, which were previously cash-poor and dependent on growing illegal opium as their major source of income. The organic methods employed by the Project have had great success. Such non-tropical fruit as strawberries and raspberries, peaches, apples and plumbs and vegetables like beans and asparagus, have all done well.

From: http://www.thailand.com/travel/natural/nat...doiangkhang.htm

At the same time it is advised in a (old) report by the Faculty of Forestry in Bangkok that several products are recommended to grow, including:

* Bamboo shoot: Bambusa oldhamii, Dendrocalamus latiflorus and Phyllostachys makinoi

From: http://www.recoftc.org/site/fileadmin/docs..._4/Thaiusta.pdf

Maybe an opportunity for someone who sees opportunities ?

If I would be in the neighborhood I would go and talk to the Faculty of Forestry and the Royal Ang Khang Research Station

LaoPo

Edited November 17, 2009 by LaoPo

[wescue]

Interesting topic. There is of course a bamboo industry in Thailand. Based mainly on Dendrocalamus asper. Used mainly for shoots, I think canned.

The best species to grow is the one that does best where you are and in Thai the fastest growing and biggest species are the tropical ones that are bigger than Moso.

Another factor to consider is what will sell locally. Freight will be an increasing cost.

The biggest use for bamboo will probably be biochar. Produced locally using biomass from nearby. Bamboo is the fastest growing source of biomas. There are many valuable products co-produced when pyrolizing biomass. Fuel and fertilizer, bamboo vinegar others and biochar itself.

Greg

[Hadrian1]

Can these be grown in colder climates eg northen Europe?

[oodii]

Can these be grown in colder climates eg northen Europe?

... yes, but under glass only, or in a green house. Actually, in northern Europe with continental climate only the hardiest of the hardy bamboo species can be successfully grown outdoor, and even need some winter protection measures. Among these cold resistant bamboos are a few species of Fargesia. I am not sure if species of Phyllostachys will thrive there, but the hardiest would possibly be Phyllostachys aureosulcata and its varieties. There is no chance that Phyllostachys edulis (Moso Bamboo) will do over the long run.

[cliokchi]

hi happy new year to everbody in thr forum,

in the netherlands Phyllostachys nigra or the black bamboo

grows outdoor very well and survives heavy frost -20c

but this is an ornamental plant bamboo, there'a a whole group

of bamboo coming from china that are frost resistant

cliokchi praow

[billd766]

Does bamboo need irrigating as I live on the slope of a hill and if I start to grow bamboo I will need to move water 350 metres horizontally and about 10 metres vertically from the klong to a storage pond and then another 250 metres horizontally and 15 metres vertically to some concrete ring storage tanks that I don't have yet.

It will be an expensive outlay initially but it is a long term project.