Aracruz continued developing its own eucalyptus species, producing seeds for its own plantations. In the early 1980s, however, its seeds began attracting outside interest, and the company began selling seeds to third parties as well. As the company perfected its seed stock, it began developing its own cloningprogram for commercial development. By selecting superior seeds for its cloned trees, the company was able to make significant strides in improving not only growth rates, but also in uniformity and quality, helping it to reduce its own costs still further. Cloning presented its own disadvantages, such as a greater vulnerability to certain diseases, requiring the development of special planting techniques, including interspersing with native tree species.
Aracruz found other ways to reduce its costs, including locating its production close to its forests. The company also used waste byproducts, and especially wood bark, as fuel, providing nearly 90 percent of its own energy needs. In 1985, Aracruz built its own private port, called Portocel, in order to service its production unit, a move that helped it reduce its production costs still more.
Erling Lorentzen stepped down from a day to day role with the company in 1987, becoming company chairman. By then, Aracruz had grown into the nation's number two pulp producer, trailing Industrias Klabian de Papel a Celulose, which weighed in at twice the size of Aracruz. Yet Aracruz turned out high profits--in 1988, the company posted net profits of $147 million on revenues of $227 million.