Just quickly, is there an opportunity in the fact that the Russians don't have...? Again, it's not just the physical infrastructure, it's the social infrastructure, the tremendous lack of transparency. They will have difficulty here.
As they pull these logs off the market, there will be a window. Our sense is that it's at least five to seven years before they get their act together. Where they will come in first is on the solid wood side. They're going to do lumber and plywood first, that's clear. Then they will hit us; they'll use it for the domestic market first and then they'll focus on the Chinese and the Japanese market. They have high-quality product.
As for their Achilles heel, you think we have a labour problem? Look at the Russians. It's much bigger there.
So one of the reasons our competitive position is actually going to be improving is that a lot of these competing regions are going to have negative things happen--not that we get better; they're going to get worse. We can see it in spades with regard to wood. An interesting fact is that right now the market price of hardwood pulpwood logs in Brazil is higher than in eastern Canada. It's partly currency and partly the fact that they're building their pulp mills a lost faster than they can put in their plantations.
You're seeing cost pressure go up. It's also partly due to their restricted land base, which you alluded to on this food, fuel, fibre issue. They will pull it out. We're aware of a situation in Vietnam where a three-year-old eucalyptus plantation was cut down. They replaced it with palm oil. This is good news, from a market perspective, for the Canadians.
So as to opportunities, yes, we do have them. The receptive capacity is certainly a source of anxiety. It is. But the good thing is that things can turn on a dime with perceptions. People are interested in getting into green careers. We have to be sincere in how we manage our forests sustainably. That will be an advantage.
When I go to other countries, I think we have a sincere interest on the part of the companies that do that. We have to communicate. We need people out there speaking positively on this. This isn't just a sunset industry. I believe it has some opportunities as well. One of our cards to play will be that we can do things sustainably where there is green energy. We can produce renewable plastics, at the end of the day. But we're not there yet.