Speakers
Rafael Barisauskas
Economist, Latin American Pulp, Paper & Packaging
Fastmarkets Forest Products
Rafael Barisauskas
Economist, Latin American Pulp, Paper & Packaging
Fastmarkets Forest Products
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.
Patrick Cavanagh
Senior Economist, Fiber
Fastmarkets Forest Products
Patrick Cavanagh
Senior Economist, Fiber
Fastmarkets Forest Products
Patrick Cavanagh leads the analysis for paper grade and specialty pulp at Fastmarkets RISI. He is the author of several recurring and multi-client reports, including the World Pulp Monthly, the World Dissolving Pulp Monitor, the Outlook for World Fluff Pulp and the Nonwovens Price & Cost Monitor. Pat holds a Master of Science in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics from the University of Rhode Island and a Bachelor of Arts from the American University, Washington, D.C.
Marina Faleiros
Managing Editor Latin America
Fastmarkets
Marina Faleiros
Managing Editor Latin America
Fastmarkets
With over 13 years of experience in the industry, Marina manages pricing data for the market pulp, recovered paper and containerboard markets, as well as reports trends and in-depth information about key moves by producers and buyers in Latin America. Prior to joining RISI, Marina spent four years at the Brazilian Pulp and Paper Association (ABTCP), as well as worked at two major daily newspapers in Brazil, Folha de S. Paulo and O Estado de S. Paulo. She is the recipient of two journalism awards for reporting on the Brazilian economy and other three awards related to the pulp and paper sector. Marina is graduated in journalism by Faculdade Cásper Líbero and concluded in 2016 an MBA sponsored by the Brazilian stock exchange B3.
Marco Antonio Fujihara
Director
Aggrego
Marco Antonio Fujihara
Director
Aggrego
Marco has more than 40 years’ experience in the forestry sector; he develops business qualification projects in the parameters recommended by Kyoto since 1998, as well as the current Paris Agreements and voluntary markets and jurisdictional markets for the energy and forest-based sectors such as pulp and paper etc. He was coordinator of Forest Products of Mercosur, Superintendent of the Brazilian Society of Forestry, Coordinator of Natural Resources of Bracelpa (National Association of Pulp and Paper Manufacturers) and Director of Renewable Natural Resources of IBAMA in Brasilia and worked professionally in several companies. A qualified agronomist engineer, Marco also has university extension courses in Economics of Agricultural and Forestry Companies, Politics and Strategy, as well as in Climate Change taught by Havard University. He worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from 2002 to 2009 as a reviewer of WG2, and is a current advisor of the advisory board of the Latam Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) as well as the Latam Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI). Marco has previously advised to the Climate InvestmentFund (World Bank and MDBs) and was keyman of the Sustainability Fund of Brazil of the Brazilian National Development Bank’s (BNDES) Clean Development Program and the Performa /Key Fund and Technological Innovation for Sustainability. He has worked with multilateral grganizations including the World Bank and the International Development Bank to set up Investment Funds with Socio-Environmental Impact (InovaCapital Fund of the Inter-American Development Bank - IDB). He was Sustainability Director of PwC in Brazil with operations in Latin America. Director of Keyassociados with a specific focus on Carbon Finance and corporate sustainability. Marco is owner and Director of RADCE,a consulting firm focused on managing green and sustainable investments, and works on the boards of several companies and organizations in the third sector. He is currently dedicated to innovative solutions at Techsocial in Natura Co and SINAI and ECOFIX, where he develops digitalplatforms and sustainable finance with the help of credit instruments and venture capital.
Hema Kalathingal
Associate Economist
Fastmarkets Forest Products
Hema Kalathingal
Associate Economist
Fastmarkets Forest Products
Hema Kalathingal currently authors Fastmarkets RISI’s North American Bioenergy Forecast, which provides analysis and a 5-year forecast of the North American wood pellet, biomass power and cellulosic biofuels markets. She also supports the wood products team and contributes to the wood products monthly commentaries and medium- and long-term 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.
Rodrigo Libaber
Director of Sales & Logistics
Eldorado Brasil
Alejandro Mata Lopez
Director- Europe Graphic and Packaging Paper
Fastmarkets
Alejandro Mata Lopez
Director- Europe Graphic and Packaging Paper
Fastmarkets
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.
João Paulo Pieroni
Superintendent- Innovation and Foreign Trade
BNDES
João Paulo Pieroni
Superintendent- Innovation and Foreign Trade
BNDES
João Pieroni is an economist, graduated from the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). He has a master’s degree in political economy from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica in São Paulo (PUC/SP) and an Executive MBA degree from the Instituto de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração at the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (Coppead/UFRJ). Pieroni has been a career employee at the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) since 2008, where he could act as sectorial manager and later as head manager in the department that focuses on the Industrial Complex and Health Services, time in which he could contribute to the strengthening of the health industry and its adequacy to the Brazilian Health System (SUS) access policies to medicines and new technologies. He currently commands the Area of Productive Development, Innovations, and Foreign Trade, which is responsible for the development of strategies and support mechanisms so BNDES can help strengthen both industry and innovation in Brazil.
Walter Schalka
CEO
Suzano
Walter Schalka
CEO
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 61 years old, he is married and he has three children, a grandson and a granddaughter.
Luis Sucupira
Head of International Timber Analysis
Fastmarkets
Luis Sucupira
Head of International Timber Analysis
Fastmarkets
Luis has over 15 years of experience working with Marketing, Market Intelligence and Sales. Luis has dedicated most of his career in sales leading projects of market intelligence focused in the forest products industry. He was Head of Sales for LatAm at RISI and has helped the company establish its footprint in the region. He is also a member of FSC Brazil. His academic background is in International Relations and Business Administration. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Relations from PUC and also holds a MBA from FIA.
Esko Uutela
Principal, Tissue
Fastmarkets
Esko Uutela
Principal, Tissue
Fastmarkets
With more than 30 years’ experience in the global paper market, Esko’s expertise lies in the tissue and recovered fiber markets. After working nearly 18 years for a large forest industry consulting company in Helsinki and Munich, Esko established EU Consulting, his own forest industry consulting company. Esko carries out numerous private client projects, as well as publishing Fastmarkets RISI’s comprehensive studies on tissue business developments and global recycled fiber markets worldwide.