Brazil consolidates itself as the main pulp exporter in the world

According to data from the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá), Brazilian pulp production reached 25 million tons in 2022, an increase of 10.9% in the annual comparison, while exports reached 19.1 million tons, an advance of 22%, which records a new historic mark. With these results, the country consolidated itself as the largest pulp exporter in the world in the last year.

The above-average performance widened the difference in relation to the second largest exporter of the commodity, Canada, according to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) ranking. In 2021, the country exported 8 million tons of fiber to other countries, followed by the United States, with 6.83 million tons.

Brazil also reached a record in paper production, reaching 11 million tons, growth of 3.5%. Performance was driven by packaging papers, up 7%, and tissue papers, up 6.7%. Exports totaled 2.5 million tons of paper, 21% more than in 2021, marking a new historic high.

“The union of a strong forestry-based industry and a vision in tune with the precepts of the green economy are the legacy that the sector is leaving for the country and showing, more and more, its sustainable DNA to the world”, said the CEO from Ibá, Paulo Hartung, adding that the industry has moved towards new uses for its products, with sustainable raw materials in other industries.

For Ibá, the 2022 numbers reinforce the growing trend in the search for products from renewable origin, biodegradable and with traceability, as is the case of the cultivated trees sector.

In this sense, at the end of 2021, Bracell had already started a mega pulp project in the interior of São Paulo. Currently, Suzano and Klabin are contributing, together, more than R$ 32 billion in new pulp mills or in production integrated with paper manufacturing. In addition, the Chilean Arauco announced an investment of R$ 15 billion for its first unit in the country, with a plant in Mato Grosso do Sul.

Thus, the tendency is for the country to remain isolated in the leadership of this market. It is worth highlighting Suzano as an example, which will add 2.55 million tons of pulp to the installed capacity in the country with the Cerrado Project, which should start operating in 2024, with most of the volume destined for the foreign market.

On the other hand, according to the Ibá bulletin, China is still the main buyer of Brazilian cellulose, with US$ 3.3 billion of the US$ 8.39 billion exported in 2022, followed by Europe, with US$ 2.5 billion.

On paper, Latin American countries correspond to the main market for Brazilian producers, with a value of US$ 1.9 billion exported in 2022, an increase of 56.4% in exports, in the annual comparison.

With the historical values reported, foreign exchange for the forest-based sector also reached a new record, with an increase of 28.7%, to US$ 11.6 billion. Thus, the surplus in the industrial trade balance reached US$ 10.46 billion in the year, with expansion of 32%.