PROFILE OF SAWMILLS IN THE UBÁ FURNITURE HUB IN THE STATE OF MINAS GERAIS

The objective of this work was to identify, diagnose and characterize the sawmills in four municipalities in the State of Minas Gerais (Divinésia, Senador Firmino, Brás Pires and Dores do Turvo) that provide lumber for the industries in the Furniture Hub in Ubá, State of Minas Gerais. A semi-structured questionnaire with open questions, answered in loco and accompanied by a responsible person (interviewer), with information on the identification of the potentialities and fragilities of the local lumber sector as well as to know the raw material (logs), the wood split processes, the internal management, the qualification of the employees, the machinery, products, market and prospects of the sector in these municipalities. It was found that Eucalyptus wood is the most used. The diameter of the logs is shown as the factor that affects the yield in 100% of the analyzed sawmills, where cracking and variability of the logs are the main difficulties of working with the raw material. The lumber sector in the analyzed municipalities needs a greater qualification, both managerial and technical, to improve the activity. In addition, it is necessary to better organize the companies related to the lumber sector through associations and support from local entities and greater exposure of the products to the local consumers.