Ibá Journalism Award opens entries for its third edition

Entries are now open for the third edition of the Ibá Journalism Award, which recognizes reporting on the cultivated trees sector for industrial and restoration purposes.

Eligible entries include stories published between October 1, 2025, and October 1, 2026, in national or international media outlets. The award includes the categories of text, audio, video, and reporting published in a media outlet specialized in covering the sector, in any of the previous formats.

The award, an initiative of the Brazilian Tree Industry (Ibá), is open to journalists and students, provided that the submitted work has been published in professional media outlets. Each author may submit up to three stories.

The winners in each category will receive R$ 5,000, in addition to a trophy and certificate. An honorable mention will also be awarded, with a prize of R$ 3,000.

With free entries, the award seeks to encourage the production of reporting on the social, environmental, and economic impacts of the cultivated trees chain, while also recognizing work on bioeconomy, innovation, sustainability, and regional development.

In previous editions, the award recognized stories on topics such as international trade, silviculture, and innovation in the Brazilian forest-based chain.

Ibá engages with Brazilian government on U.S. Section 301 tariffs

Ibá has been monitoring, in coordination with the federal government and other affected sectors, the two recent decisions by the U.S. government under Section 301, with effects on relevant products from the Brazilian cultivated trees industry. The first measure, specific to Brazil, establishes an additional 25% tariff on items not included in the list of exceptions, such as paper, wood panels, MDF, MDP, plywood, laminate flooring, and dissolving pulp. The second decision, global in scope and applied to 60 countries, including Brazil, imposes an additional 12.5% tariff in an investigation related to an alleged failure to impose and enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor. This new measure does not replace the 25% tariff; therefore, for products that are not excluded from either list, the additional tariff may reach 37.5%, depending on any other measures that may also apply.

Last week, Paulo Hartung, president of Ibá, and Adriano Scarpa, the association’s Institutional Director, delivered a technical document to Vice President Geraldo Alckmin on the impacts of these measures on the sector and proposed ways forward. The material points to risks for exports, production, jobs, and investments, in an international context marked by the disruption of trade flows, rising protectionism, and the redirection of industrial overcapacity. Ibá also participated, in Brasília, in a meeting led by the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, with representatives from MDIC, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Camex, and the Civil House, as well as other affected sectors.

Fastmarkets Forest Products Latin America Conference 2026 returns to São Paulo as the key meeting point for deals and supply chain strategy

The Fastmarkets Forest Products Latin America Conference 2026 returns to the Renaissance São Paulo Hotel from August 10 to 12, with a speaker program built around the executives setting commercial direction across the region. As Latin America’s pulp, paper and packaging market moves through a period of structural reset, the agenda puts capacity decisions, trade strategy and investment priorities at the center of the conversation.

A senior-level speaker lineup

The confirmed program brings together leaders from the region’s largest producers.

CEO of the year award and keynote

On August 11, Cristián Infante, chief executive officer of Arauco, will receive the 2026 Latin America CEO of the year award and deliver a keynote, voted for by the investment analysts and portfolio managers who follow the sector most closely.

An agenda built around what is actually changing

Latin America’s forest products market is no longer moving on price alone, with tariffs, currency volatility and shifting demand reshaping how capacity gets built and supply chains get planned. The 2026 agenda reflects that, spanning the global pulp and woodchip outlooks, personal care and nonwovens, the tissue market, financial markets, graphic paper and boxboard, carbon markets, recycled paper, freight and logistics, and packaging leadership, backed by data-driven outlooks from Fastmarkets economists and analysts.

Who is in the room

Organizations already confirmed to attend include CMPC, Suzano, Cenibra, Ibema, Klabin, Essity, BNDES, Itochu, Bracell, J.P. Morgan, Carvajal, Ledesma, Andritz, Eldorado Brasil, Sylvamo and many more. The 2025 edition attracted more than 400 attendees from around 30 countries.

“The Fastmarkets Latin America Conference is the region’s key meeting point, bringing together a powerful network and direct insight into the priorities shaping strategy across the pulp and paper industry. With in-depth content and short-term forecasts from our specialists, it is where decision-makers come to understand the forces moving the market.”

Marina Faleiros, Team Leader Latin America and Country Manager Brazil, Fastmarkets

IBA has secured its audience an exclusive opportunity to access one of the most commercially important gatherings in the pulp, paper, and packaging market, with 15% off using code IBA15.

Register here

Industry leaders highlight the relevance of the documentary “New Roots – Future Choices”

Ibá continues to gather testimonials from leaders and prominent figures from the cultivated trees sector for industrial purposes and native area restoration to highlight the documentary “New Roots – Future Choices,” an initiative by Ibá in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and Casa Redonda.

In short videos, sector representatives share their views on the production, which presents the trajectory of an industry that combines science, innovation and sustainability to show a Brazil that invests in solutions for the future.

Participants include leaders who help build this story, sharing their pride in being part of an industry that contributes to the economy, environmental conservation and sustainable development. The videos featuring Maria Clara, from Lorinvest; Antonio Lacerda, from CMPC; Elcio Trajano Jr., from Eldorado; Carlos Guerreiro, from TTG; and Lennon Neto from Dexco, are available on Ibá’s YouTube channel.

Watch the testimonials and discover different perspectives on the documentary, available on HBO Max.

Arauco adopts biological control for eucalyptus pests

Committed to sustainable production processes and to reducing the environmental impacts of its activities, Arauco has begun producing its own biocontrol agents and releasing parasitoid micro-wasps in the field for eucalyptus pest management. Widely used in both the forest sector and agriculture, the technique, known as biological control, “reduces the use of chemicals in forest management and is highly effective and sustainable in controlling the presence of eucalyptus defoliating caterpillars,” says Dr. Mariane Aparecida Nickele, researcher and Forest Health Coordinator at Arauco.

According to her, two species of micro-wasps are being released in the plantations, Tricholpilus diatraeae and Tetrastichus howardi. They began to be produced by Arauco in February this year at the facilities of the Senai Institute of Innovation in Biomass, in Três Lagoas, Mato Grosso do Sul, a partner of the company in the research. “The development cycle of the parasitoids in the laboratory lasts from 16 to 20 days, and the adults released in the field live for around eight days,” explains the coordinator.

Mariane notes that Arauco’s goal is to reduce the use of chemical pesticides in controlling eucalyptus pests to a minimum. “In the management of defoliating caterpillars, chemical control is used only in specific situations, when there is an overlap of pest generations. Most field applications already use biological control through sprays of biological insecticides based on the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis. The release of parasitoids in plantations contributes to integrated pest management by preventing caterpillar populations from reaching the control threshold, thereby reducing field spraying,” she says.

Arbex: a new global leader in tissue papers and hygiene products

Arbex, a new global leader in the tissue paper and hygiene products segment, has begun operations as an independent company and released details about its brand, leadership team and organizational structure. Announced in June 2025 as a US$3.4 billion joint venture between Suzano (NYSE: SUZ), the world’s largest pulp supplier, and Kimberly-Clark Corporation (NASDAQ: KMB), a global leader in consumer goods and personal care, the new company will manufacture, market and distribute products for consumers and professional clients in more than 70 markets across five continents.

Arbex assumes ownership of the assets previously managed by Kimberly-Clark’s International Family Care and Professional (IFP) business, including 22 industrial units in 14 countries and a portfolio of more than 40 regional brands, including Andrex®, Hakle® and Scottex®. The company also holds a long-term license to use Kimberly-Clark’s global brands, including Kleenex®, Cottonelle®, Scott®, WypAll®, Viva® and Kimberly-Clark Professional.

Ehab Abou-Oaf, who led Kimberly-Clark’s IFP business, becomes Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Arbex. He will be based in London, alongside most of the company’s global leadership team. Luís Bueno, formerly Executive Vice President of Consumer Goods at Suzano, becomes Chief Operating Officer (COO). Oscar Mousinho, an executive with a long career at Kimberly-Clark who most recently served as Global CFO of Mars’ Animal Nutrition business, becomes Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Walter Schalka, who led Suzano as CEO for more than a decade before stepping down from the role in 2024, will serve as Chair of Arbex’s Board of Directors.

Veracel at 35: how the company helped transform Southern Bahia

Veracel Celulose, whose history began in 1991, brings together advances in the regional economy, generation of opportunities, conservation of the Atlantic Forest and strengthening of communities in Southern Bahia. The company operates in 11 municipalities within its area of direct influence and has more than 3,200 professionals, including direct employees and workers from partner companies. Its forestry, industrial and logistics operations mobilize a network that includes service providers, rural producers, transport companies, small businesses and suppliers from different segments.

“We have built a company that combines a world-class operation with a permanent relationship with the territory. Reaching 35 years means recognizing what has been achieved so far while also taking on the responsibility of continuing to generate value for Bahia, for communities, for our shareholders and for nature,” says Alexandre Lanna, CEO of Veracel.

Between 2005 and 2008, the municipality’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 76.1%, while Bahia’s economy grew by 42.7% over the same period. Total employment in Eunápolis increased by 94.4%, and value added by industry grew by 267%. Industrial jobs, in turn, increased by 279%, compared with a 57.3% increase in the state.

The economic contribution remains visible in the company’s contracting of businesses located in the region. In 2025 alone, Veracel allocated R$409.12 million to the purchase of products and services from local suppliers. In addition to keeping resources circulating in the municipalities, this policy encourages the development of skills and prepares partners to meet increasingly high technical, environmental and governance standards.

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