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Jaime Verruck
Secretary of State for the Environment, Development, Science, Technology and Innovation
Mato Grosso do Sul State Government
Garo Batmanian
Director of the Brazilian Forestry Service
Environment Ministry
Garo Batmanian is an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the environmental management and forestry sector. He is currently the Director General of the Brazilian Forest Service, where he is responsible for promoting sustainable forest management, forest restoration, and forest product value chains. Prior to his current role, Garo worked at the World Bank offices in the USA, Brazil, and China. His most recent position was Global Lead for Forests, Landscape Biodiversity, where he was responsible for coordinating the implementation of an integrated green agenda. Garo has also coordinated the World Bank's Forest Action Plan, managed the World Bank's Forest Investment Program (FIP), the Program on Forests (PROFOR), the Global Partnership for Sustainable and Resilient Landscapes (PROGREEN), and the Brasilia Tropical Forest Conservation Pilot Program. Earlier in his career, Garo served as Director of the LAC Program at WWF-USA and the first CEO of the World Wide Fund for Nature Brazil (WWF-Brasil), where he led the development of the Amazon Rainforest Protected Areas Initiative (ARPA). Garo is also the founder of FSC-Brasil, where he served as the first president and led the process of developing national standards for natural forest management in the Amazon and for plantations. Garo holds a Ph.D. in Ecology from the University of Georgia, USA
Manuel Alcalá
CEO Brazil
Smurfit Westrock
Manuel Alcalá is the CEO of Smurfit Westrock Brazil and Advisor of the Global Smurfit Westrock Foundation. He has been worked for the company for 34 years and has held several leadership roles in 5 countries. Manuel led the implementation of innovation, insights and value selling methodologies across the region of the Americas. He was also part of the team that directed the acquisition of Inpa and Paema, which was the first step for Smurfit Kappa to enter the Brazilian market. In 2022 he led the acquisition process of Paper Box. In 2017 Manuel became CEO of the company in Brazil and has been responsible for the sustainable growth of the business and its positioning as a partner for innovative and sustainable packaging solutions. Manuel is a civil engineer, has an MBA in Industrial Administration and Pulp and Paper, is an Alumni of Harvard Business School and a Scholar at Kellogg Business School.
Francisco Ruiz-Tagle
CEO
CMPC
Cristiano Cardoso Teixeira
Klabin
He has more than 30 years of professional experience in different sectors, such as pulp and paper, forestry, metallurgical, ceramic and oil and gas. He worked for Sumitomo, Ripasa, Sony, Duratex and San Antonio. His career has been built on positions in the areas of Production Planning, Logistics, Supplies, Commercial and Projects. At Klabin, he began his career in 2011 as Supply Chain Director. He was also Executive Director of the Corrugated Cardboard, Industrial Bags, Sackraft Papers and Containerboard Divisions; and Executive Director of Conversions and Commercial Roles. Since April 2017, he has been the Company’s Chief Executive Officer. Cristiano holds a degree in Foreign Trade from Universidade Paulista, an MBA in International Trade from FIA and a master’s degree in Logistics from Ecole Supérieure des Affaires (France). He is a Climate Ambassador of the Brazil Network of the United Nations Global Compact and was part of the Business Leaders group of the United Nations Conferences of the Parties on Climate Change (COPs 26 and 27). In 2021, he was elected “Bio person of the year” during the World Bioeconomy Forum and “International CEO of the Year” in 2021 and 2023 by Fastmarkets RISI.
Marina Faleiros
Team Leader Latin America & Country Manager Brazil
Fastmarkets
Marina is an experienced professional with over 18 years of experience in journalism and market analysis, specializing in the Latin American pulp, paper, and packaging industry. Currently, she is Fastmarkets Team Leader for Latin American team and oversees Brazil's country operations. At Fastmarkets, Marina spearheads critical tasks like managing pricing data, market analysis, and industry intelligence. She also prepares insightful reports, keeping stakeholders informed about key market trends, financial performance, and strategic moves by regional producers and buyers. Marina holds a degree in journalism and an MBA in Capital Markets from B3, the Brazilian stock exchange. Her career has been also recognized with multiple awards for her business reporting skills.
Walter Schalka
Member of the Board
Suzano
Walter Schalka is CEO of Suzano, a position he has held since January 2013. The executive has played a strategic role in the evolution of the company's results in recent years, including the combination between Suzano Pulp and Paper and Fibria Celulose, concluded on January 14th, 2019. He started his career at Citibank and later joined the holding company of Grupo Maepar. In 1989, he began working as Chief Financial Officer at Dixie Lalekla, and later became General Manager and eventually CEO after the merger that created the Dixie Toga Group. In May 2005, he joined Grupo Votorantim as CEO of Votorantim Cimentos. In January 2013, he became CEO of Suzano. Walter holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from the Technological Institute of Aeronautics (ITA) and a graduate degree in Business Administration from the Getulio Vargas Foundation of São Paulo (FGV-SP). He also participated in executive programs at IMD (Switzerland) and Harvard University (USA). Nominated as Fastmarkets RISI’s Latin American CEO of the year – pulp and paper industry – in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2022, he was elected one of the 15 Best CEOs in Brazil by Forbes in 2018. Walter is 62 years old, he is married and he has three children, a grandson and a granddaughter.
Alejandro Mata
Director, Europe Packaging and Graphic Papers
Alejandro is responsible for client support and analytics for Fastmarkets RISI’s European Graphic Papers team. Previously, Alejandro was a business analyst for a European fine paper producer. He has a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from the Solvay Business School of Economics and Management in Brussels.
Eduardo Brunelli
Senior Procurement Manager, Packaging
Unilever
Eduardo Brunelli, a seasoned Procurement leader for Unilever, brings over 16 years of experience in strategic negotiations, supplier management, and cost optimization. His tenure at Unilever, spanning diverse portfolios like packaging, ingredients, and petrochemicals, showcases his adeptness in aligning procurement strategies with business goals.
Dan Klein
Executive VP Analytics
Dan Klein is EVP, analytics at Fastmarkets, where he leads the teams that produce Fastmarkets’ short, medium, and long-term forecasts and cost benchmarking analysis across agricultural products, forest products and metals, mining and minerals. Prior to his current position, he was CEO of Fastmarkets RISI. Dan joined Fastmarkets from Forrester Research, where he held roles in sales, product, strategy and consulting. Preceding his time at Forrester, he worked at a boutique market research and advisory firm and in the purchasing department for the State of Colorado.
Nilton Ferreira Saraiva Junior
Ibema Papelcartão
With more than 30 years of experience in the packaging industry, Nilton Saraiva has been the CEO of Ibema Papelcartão, one of the main paperboard manufacturers in Brazil, since 2017. A Aeronautics Institute of Technology – ITA graduate (Mechanical Engineering Class of '91), he has a master's degree in Business Administration from the International Institute for Management Development (IMD), in Switzerland, and attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School. To create value in a sustainable way and maintain Ibema's competitiveness, Saraiva relies on the professionalism of a team of approximately 800 employees, whom he is proud to lead. He points out that everything is produced with a lot of technology, hard work, research and, above all, care for people and the planet. The company's objective, after all, is to contribute to a better and cleaner future. “We practice and follow our ideological values, which are: We believe in the role of courage. We package the future. We do it with tact.”
Sergio Ribas
Irani Papel e Embalagem
Sérgio Ribas is a Brazilian executive whose purpose is to mobilize people and companies for a more sustainable and prosperous world. Currently CEO of Irani Papel e Embalagem and Grupo Habitasul, he holds a degree in Administration from UEPG, an MBA from Boston University – Questrom School of Business, an Executive MBA from USP (Univerdade de São Paulo), and a postgraduate degree in Public Administration from FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas). Originally from Ponta Grossa (PR), he began his career at Banco do Brasil and held strategic positions as an executive at the bank for almost two decades. Before joining Irani, he was Director of Projects and Senior Consultant at Roland Berger, a global strategic consulting company.
Amando Varella
Papirus
Carlos Anibal
Executive Director – Forestry and Supply Chain
Aurea Silva
Regional CTM Printed Paper & Corrugated Board
Henkel
Aurea has over 10 years of experience in purchasing in various sectors, including chemical, automotive and FMCG. Aurea has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and also holds a master’s degree in Purchasing & Innovation Management (MAI) from KEDGE Business School in France. Aurea joined Henkel in 2022 where took responsibility of paper packaging within Latam region
Douglas Dalmasi
Packaging Business Director
He joined Klabin in 2001 and has worked in the Planning, Procurement and Finance areas. Before taking over as Packaging Director, he led the Industrial Bags segment. He has an MBA in Controllership from the University of São Paulo and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the Armando Álvares Penteado Foundation.
Hema Kalathingal
Economist
Hema Kalathingal, Economist, Specialty Pulp, is the author of the World Dissolving Pulp Monitor and the Nonwovens Price and Cost Monitor. Prior to working on specialty pulp, she was the author of the North American Bioenergy Forecast, the Particleboard and MDF Commentary, and contributed to the North American Wood Panels 5 and 15-year Forecasts. Hema holds a master’s degree in economics from HEC Lausanne in Switzerland, and a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Kerala University in India.
Paulo Hartung
Economist, President
Iba
An economist graduated from the Federal University of Espírito Santo (Ufes) in 1978, he is “Professor Honoris Causa” at the Universidade Vila Velha (2004). He is “Doctor Honoris Causa” by Ufes (2006). With a long political career, he was governor of Espírito Santo for three terms (2003-2010 and 2015-2018), senator, mayor of Vitória, federal deputy and state deputy. Currently, he heads the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá), an association that brings together the production chain of trees planted for industrial purposes. He works on several fronts in favor of training new leaders, in addition to giving lectures on public management throughout the country. In 2023, he received the Grand Collar of Merit from the Federal Audit Court (TCU). He is a member of the board of RenovaBR and participates in the Institute of Health Studies (IES), created by Armínio Fraga. He is a member of the Board of Vale and is a member of the Board of the Brazilian Center for International Relations (Cebri). He participated in the private sector as an administrative advisor to EDP do Brasil (2012-2014) and Veracel Celulose (2013-2014). He was also director of Regional and Social Development at BNDES (1997) during the Fernando Henrique Cardoso government. At the invitation of the American Embassy in Brazil, he participated in an intensive program on Public Administration and the Political System in the United States, in 1997.
João Alberto Abreu
Rafael Barisauskas
Senior Economist
Rafael Barisauskas joined Fastmarkets in 2019 as the Latin America economist, analyzing the regional pulp, paper and packaging markets as well as the local economies. Having worked on economic forecasts since 2013, Rafael has a deep understanding of the global commodities trade and industrial organization. He is the main author of the Latin American Paper Products Monitor, the Latin American 5-year Forecast and the co-author of the Monthly Economic Commentary.Rafael has a Master's degree in Economics from KU Leuven in Belgium, focusing his research on global value chains analysis in the pulp and paper industry. He also was awarded merit scholarships through his BA in economics in Brazil and the best student award in his course.
Eduardo Aron
General Director of Tissue
Bracell
Pat Cavanagh
Senior Economist, Pulp
Fastmarkets Forest Products
Patrick Cavanagh leads the analysis for specialty pulp at Fastmarkets RISI. He is the author of several recurring and multi-client reports, including the outlook for the Global Dissolving Pulp Market, the outlook for World Fluff Pulp, the Nonwovens Price & Cost Monitor and the World Dissolving Pulp Monitor. Patrick holds a Master of Science in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island and a Bachelor of Arts from American University, Washington, D.C
Flavio Deganutti
Paracel
Vanessa Souza
LatAm Packaging Procurement Manager
Kenvue
Jorge Luzuriaga
Director LatinAmerica,
Amexiccor GAK
Over 15 years of experience in various sectors, including Packaging, Pulp & Paper, Banking, Plastic Resins, Distribution and Entertainment. My dream is to scale and do worldwide trading and developing productive assets. Business Developer, Brand Lover, World Traveler. Always looking for new trends and ways to improve our industry. Trying to be a voice in the industry. Strategist. Business intelligence.
Camila Jaramillo
Praveen Singhavi
President
José Carlos da Fonseca Jr
Ambassador, president of Empapel and International Relations
Marcos Madruga
Engineer, International Timber Analytics
Marcos has over 10 years of experience in the forestry business, working in the areas of planning, production, finance, research and logistics. He is a forest engineer and also holds a master's degree in environmental sciences and sustainability. Marcos joined Fastmarkets in November 2023 as an International Timber Analyst covering the timber markets.
Fernando Celani
Cartonificio Valinhos S.A
Fernando Celani is currently President of Cartonificio Valinhos S.A., an independent family owned paper and corrugated board company. He is the president of Sinpesp (Syndicate of corrugated board producers of São Paulo state). He is in the company since 1995. His previous experiences were in consulting (Andersen Consulting) and banking (Banco Nacional). Fernando has a degree in Production Engineering at USP, a specialization in Strategy and Management at Unicamp, an AMP at Esade (Barcelona), a post MBA at Inova BS and a TrendsInnovation Counselor course at Inova BS. He is married and has two daughters
Stephanie Hsia
Tissue Economist
Stephanie joined Fastmarkets in 2023 as a Latin American Economic Analyst, covering mainly tissue business. Her responsibilities include overall market analysis and insight, and she also helps with the Outlook for World Tissue Business and the World Tissue Business Monitor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and a specialization in sustainability and environmental studies.
Stein Ole Larsen
Norexeco
Vitor Gaspar
Head of Commodities Division
XP Investimentos
Head of Commodities Division – XP Banco de Atacado Ex – risk management director (Amius UK) Ex – exotic commodities derivatives trader (Macquarie Bank)
Sandy Oliviera
Price Reporter
Sandy a part of our PPI Latin America price reporting team and is currently responsible for the Brazilian boxboard market in Brazil, graphic paper in Brazil and Mexico, and packaging innovation and growth in Latin America. With over four years of experience in business and financial journalism, Sandy has worked at prominent media outlets, including O Estado de S. Paulo and Broadcast at Agencia Estado before joining Fastmarkets.
Fabio Suetugui
Manager
Repapel
Joao Paulo Moura Sanfins
Director of Resiban
CRB Group
Rafael Barcellos
Head of LatAm Metals & Mining, Pulp & Paper, and Cement
BRADESCO BBI
Isabel Cristina Riveros Pineda
Director for the Pulp, Paper and Cardboard Industry Chamber
National Business Association of Colombia (ANDI)
The Asociación Nacional de Empresarios de Colombia (ANDI), is a non-profit association that aims to disseminate and promote the political, economic, and social principles of a sound free enterprise system. Isabel is an Executive Director of ANDI for 11 years, which brings together the main Colombian paper companies in the sector. Isabel leads and represents the voice of the Colombian paper sector with its stakeholders, in areas such as sectoral competitiveness, access to raw materials, competitive regulation and promotion of sectoral sustainability. For nine years, she was part of the Colombian negotiating team of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, safeguarding Colombia's objectives, interests and strategies in commercial negotiations regarding origin regulations. Pineda is an Economist from the University of Rosario, with Masters in Regeneration and Sustainable Development from the University of the Andes.
Carlos Gallo
Director of Sales Latin America and Technology – Tissue Machines
Andritz
40 years experience in the Pulp and Paper business working in the supplying of equipment and systems in the area of Sales, Product Management and Technology of tissue machines and stock preparation. Carlos has joined ANDRITZ in 2017, and is now leading the Sales activities of Tissue machines in Latin America and responsible for the Global Technology of Dry Crepe Tissue Machines.
Edwing Guillermo Cely Pena
Sales and Marketing Director
Carvajal Pulp and Paper
Marcelo Mello
Head of StoneX's Pulp and Fertiliser desks – Latin America
StoneX
Has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Fundação Getúlio Vargas São Paulo Has worked for more than 25 years in risk management with derivatives for agricultural commodities, mining & metals, pulp and energy. From 2004 to 2010 was Head of Commodities for Latin America at Standard Bank Group In recent years he has set up StoneX's pulp and fertiliser hedge desks for Latin America
Rodrigo Ruffo
Sales and Application Manager Fiber Systems
Voith
Mirka Sireni
Vice President Sales Paper&Board – Paper&Tissue
Mirka has worked for over 27 years in various positions in the pulp and paper industry in Austria, Finland, and Germany. Her roles have included operative and strategic sales, strategy implementation, and business development for Ahlstrom-Machinery, Andritz and Valmet. Mirka rejoined ANDRITZ in January 2024 and is now leading the Global Paper & Board Sales Capital business.