Dear friends and Colombian Timber investors,
A special countdown commences every March as the skyline of our beautiful country starts to slowly reveal gray nuances and a soft afternoon breeze whispers the unmistakable news of a rainy season’s prompt arrival. While rain isn’t precisely what tourists look forward to the most, water represents a blessing for Medellin’s lush vegetation, our country’s world-renowned biodiversity and, naturally, our timber plantations. Rain drops act as ring bells too, they announce the beginning of a new planting season as it is in presence of abundant water that seedlings need to be brought to earth in order to maximize growth. And for us, a new planting season implies a most anticipated yearly opportunity to allow new investors enroll in this unique venture.
You may not recall or even know what has taken place since we decided to assign, years ago, some serious attention to timber plantations in Colombia. What started as an attempt to tap into the Colombian promising agro-industrial market, has become an unstoppable reality that allows true asset diversification while profoundly contributing to Colombian’s economic, social, and environmentally sustainable development. Let’s take a glance at what has happened throughout the years:
·2009 to 2015: Over 125.000 acres were purchased, 22.500+ of which were planted at a ratio of approximately 4.000 acres per year.
·2015: obtained our first international certification: The Gold Standard. As a result, we were assigned 70.000+ carbon credits.
·2016: launched Colombian Timber I, our first crowdfunded forestry project, structured exclusively for our foreign investor clients.
·2017: launched Colombian Timber II, our second crowdfunded project, also designed for our foreign clientele.
And so, here we are now, 2018, our most promising year yet, one that couldn’t have started better. Perhaps this was a result of the great success experimented so far, or maybe it was just the acknowledgement of this country’s imminent hatching from the stubborn shell that conflict represented. Whichever the case, we welcomed 2018 securing 4 different lands totaling over 10.000 acres in which Colombian Timber III, IV and V will be developed. Moreover, we also purchased a +2.000-acre lot where our port and distribution center will operate, bordering with the famous Orinoco river. We called this Colombian Timber Port. To see the satellite location of all new lands, click here.
This all sounds great, and it certainly is, except for one thing: none of these projects will allow crowdfunding. Each project has secured an individual investor with whom we are going to partner. Structuring a crowdfunded project is something amazing as it allows us to invite smaller investors to form part of the otherwise prohibiting high entry prices of the agro-industrial forestry market. However, the opportunity to develop three consecutive projects and ensure the continuity of our wood inventory was something we couldn’t let slip.
What comes next?
You now know what we have done so far, let us then enlighten you about what comes next:
·Launching and continuing to strengthen our Genetic Improvement Plan, by the expert hands of our forestry engineers, towards obtaining state of the art wood growth rates.
·Aiming to conclude in the last quarter of this year, the process of procuring the most reputable certification in the industry: The Forest Stewardship Council.
·Consolidating our charity foundation, dedicated to provide assistance, recreation, education and care to the local community in which our plantations are located.
·Delivering our 16th forest ranger house to host the rangers and their families who service our different plantation.
·Growing our honey intercropping project by introducing more beehives into plantations that have reached maturity.
·Continuing negotiations to secure an international premium buyer for our biomass with our Singapore, UK and Chinese prospects.
·Initiating structural and logistic studies towards developing our port / distribution center.
Can you still make part of this?
Good news, yes you can! Though we don’t anticipate structuring a crowdfunded project for the next 2-3 years, we are hereby officially opening Colombian Timber’s I and II 2018 investment rounds. As you might recall, due to the cash flow structure of our forestry plantations, each project requires funding during three consecutive years in a gradually decreasing way. This means that:
·Colombian Timber I, which was launched in 2016, will enter its third and final year of capital raising. This is this project’s last chance to get on board.
·Colombian Timber II, which was launched in 2017, will entering its second year of capital raising.
The minimum investment in either project stands at U$50K for Colombian Timber I and U$40K for Colombian Timber II, and we have limited units available.
This year’s investment round will be presented at next week’s Panama’s LIO Global Property Summit, then at Medellin’s LIO Colombia Conference in June 6-8, and finally, if any unit remains, at the Las Vegas’ LIO Retire Overseas Event in September 8-11.
Want to learn more?
This is a unique project and words make poor justice to it. Go ahead, see it for yourself:
Additional footage and information can be found here at our Colombian Timber´s website.
But most of all, we would love to discuss and share our excitement with you, so don’t hesitate, give us a call and let us talk about why we believe this is the best agro-industrial opportunity in our country. To contact us, please click here.
Did we mention that on top of the social and environmental benefits, the outstanding yield, the valuation of land and the additional income sources via carbon credits and apiculture, this investment also qualifies you for Colombian residency? Just in case you are wondering, it does and believe it or not it takes our team around 10 days to apply for and obtain residency for our investors.
Can’t wait to hear from you!
Yours truly,
Felipe Gutierrez
CEO & Partner Gutierrez Group