What Makes Bamboo A Compatible Timber Investment

The brainchild of 48-year-old identical-twin artists, Doug and Mike Starn, project “Big Bambú” was a 120-feet long structure of more than 5,000 poles from a bamboo farm in Georgia and a century-old plantation in South Carolina. The brothers Starn chose bamboo as their building material because, according to them, bamboo is lightweight, but very strong and can endure varying weather conditions. As far as stability, the installation was tested with 350 50-pound sandbags over a 24-hour period. It didn’t even tremble.

Bamboo, traditionally considered as member of the grass family, is recognized as one of the best materials to consider if you want to invest in timber as it is suitable for home construction, floors and fiberboards. It is known to be the more stable than hardwoods, with a tensile strength of 52 pounds per square inch – more than that of cold-pressed steel. Investing in bamboo plantations might also be a suitable alternative for those looking to invest in timber, but are put off by long investment cycles as the maturity span of the bamboo plant is four to six years after planting, which is considerably lower than that of traditional timber. Regular trees can take from 30 to 60 years to mature and be ready for use, while bamboo can produce up to 15 kilometres of usable pole over a 13 -year period.
In addition, once mature and cut off for timber production, more bamboo material grows from the already planted clump and roots, which gives a larger harvest each year without the need for replanting.

Bamboo And consider this: Bamboo sequestrates around five times more CO2 from the atmosphere compared to traditional trees while its oxygen-releasing capacity is 35% higher than that theirs.

Companies that invest in timber should seriously take into account these remarkable bamboo characteristics. Bamboo, which can also be SIPP-approved, can render faster returns than traditional forest investments. Moreover, its unmatched capability for offsetting greenhouse gas emissions provides it with a competitive edge, giving other timber investments a run for their money.

Recognizing how much bamboo projects can be beneficial for the investment portfolio and the wallet alike, David Cox, a young UK entrepreneur, has launched what he claims to be the world’s first bamboo bond. Based in Oxford, his company has bought 2,000 acres of bamboo plantation in South America. The location was selected with the prospective buyer in mind. Cox considers the U.S. as its primary market for the bamboo material. According to the optimistic timber investments enthusiast, people can invest as little as £10,300 in the bond with hopes of getting a return of 503 per cent over 15 years.

With over a billion people living in houses made of bamboo, India’s Ministry of Agriculture estimates that the $10 billion world market for bamboo will double by 2015, reaching $20 billion.
There are feasible issues that also need to be addressed when evaluating bamboo plantations as viable timber investments. Considering the fact that bamboo sometimes travels long distances before it reaches its destination-of-use, the GHG emissions involved in transporting it can be significant. Therefore, bamboo plantation locations and intended markets should be selected properly and carefully.

By: Tonka Dobreva

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The bamboo bandwagon might seem like a lucrative timber investment option, but potential investors should do just as– if not more -- thorough research on the industry itself and the reliability of companies offering options to invest in timber before taking advantage. For further details on timber investments please visit www.timberinvestments.co