Chile quake may cut forestry pulp exports 15 pct-report

Forest products markets / Holzproduktmärkte: Papier- und Zellstoffindustrie, Pulp, Zellstoff, Pulp- and Paperindustry

SANTIAGO, March 9 (Reuters) - Chile's key forestry sector may see exports fall by around 15 percent this year after a giant earthquake destroyed processing plants, an industry executive told the daily Diario Financiero.

Chile is one of the world's top producers of cellulose used to make paper and Jose Campino, the president of timber company Corma, said the industry was the hardest hit by the Feb. 27 quake in south-central Chile.

"The forestry sector is in the epicenter of the earthquake," Campino was quoted as saying on Tuesday.