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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
Cristiano Cardoso Teixeira
CEO
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.
Francisco Ruiz-Tagle
CMPC
Walter Schalka
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.
Carlos Altimiras
Arauco
Carlos Altimiras has been the CEO of Arauco of Brazil since 2019. Prior to this role, he worked for 17 years in various positions in planning, sales, administration, and operations, spending the last three years as the Acquisition Director for the Group. Carlos holds a degree in Industrial Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Chile and a specialization in Pulp and Paper Production from the Federal University of Viçosa.
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.
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
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.
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.
Rafael Setti Fontana
Sr Manager Procurement Packaging Latam
Mondelez
Flavio Deganutti
Paracel
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.
Alejandro Mata
Director , Europe Packaging and Graphic Papers
Fastmarkets, RISI
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.
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
Hema Kalathingal
Economist
Fastmarkets
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.
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.
Rafael Barisauskas
Rafael Barisauskas joined RISI in 2019 as the Latin America Economist, analyzing both the pulp, paper, and packaging regional markets. Rafael has a deep understanding of commodities' global trade, having worked with economic forecasts since 2013. Rafael has a strong academic and quantitative background, awarding merit scholarships through his BA in Economics in Brazil and the Best Student Award in his course.