the packaging company formed through the merger of Ireland\u2019s Smurfit Kappa and U.S.-based Westrock\u2014has approved a $150 million (about R$840 million) investment to expand and modernize its operations in Brazil. The investment, already cleared by the board, is expected to be implemented over a period of 18 to 22 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have capacity expansion projects in some regions and other investments aimed at improving service levels, delivery, and product quality,\u201d said Manuel Alcal\u00e1<\/strong>, CEO of Smurfit Westrock in Brazil. \u201cPart of the funds will also go toward artificial intelligence, where we\u2019ve already begun investing, to boost [forest] productivity and reduce downtime,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Of the total, approximately $31 million (around R$174 million) will be allocated to the Tr\u00eas Barras plant in Santa Catarina. Inaugurated in 1974, the facility\u2014part of Westrock\u2019s legacy in Brazil\u2014produces pulp and kraftliner paper, which is later converted into packaging. The company also operates a forest business unit in the same region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of the main projects at the Tr\u00eas Barras site is the expansion of the causticizing plant, which recovers chemicals used in the wood pulping process. According to the company, this upgrade is expected to increase production capacity at the facility by 6% to 10% by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With an installed capacity of 600,000 tonnes of paper per year, about 70% of the output from Tr\u00eas Barras is supplied to the company\u2019s converting facilities. The remainder is sold to other markets, mainly Argentina, Paraguay, and Chile. \u201cTr\u00eas Barras is a strategic platform for us in Latin America,\u201d Mr. Alcal\u00e1 said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Commenting on the ongoing tariff dispute between the United States and China, Mr. Alcal\u00e1 acknowledged that there has been an impact on sales, particularly in sectors such as proteins, fruits, and footwear. \u201cWe\u2019ve already seen an immediate market reaction, as exporters have to quickly reposition themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to Mr. Alcal\u00e1, the company also ramped up sales to China in the past month, when U.S. tariffs on Chinese goods peaked, although he did not provide specific figures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boosting forest productivity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n A portion of the announced investment will go toward the company\u2019s forest operations. Smurfit Westrock currently manages 54,500 hectares of forestland in Brazil, including roughly 22,000 hectares of pine, 10,000 hectares of eucalyptus, and the rest in native forest. \u201cBy law, we can\u2019t buy more land in Brazil, so we have to become much more productive,\u201d Mr. Alcal\u00e1 said, referring to Brazilian legal restrictions on land ownership by foreign entities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The company\u2019s pine plantations currently yield 48 cubic meters per hectare per year (m\u00b3\/ha\/year), and the goal is to reach 60 m\u00b3\/ha\/year in the next harvest cycle. The national average is 30.8 m\u00b3\/ha\/year, according to the latest report from the Brazilian Tree Industry (IBA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Post-merger results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The integration process between Smurfit Kappa and Westrock, which began in July 2024, is nearing its one-year mark. According to Mr. Alcal\u00e1, the process has been \u201crelatively easy.\u201d \u201cThe companies had very similar values, and now they\u2019re aligned. Their portfolios were complementary and there was very little customer overlap,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The merger created a global paper and packaging giant with annual revenue of approximately $20 billion and operations in 42 countries. In the first quarter of 2025, Smurfit Westrock posted a $150 million net loss, reversing a $229 million profit from the same period a year earlier. Revenue reached $7.67 billion between July and September, up from $2.91 billion the previous year. The company attributed both the loss and the revenue spike to merger-related effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Brazil, in addition to its forest business and paper mill in Tr\u00eas Barras, Smurfit Westrock operates ten packaging plants\u2014eight in the Center-South region and two in the Northeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While the company does not disclose country-level financials, Mr. Alcal\u00e1 noted that the Brazilian operation\u2019s EBITDA rose 13% year over year, driven by post-merger synergies and outperforming initial projections. \u201cI see a lot of opportunity in Brazil and believe we are very well positioned here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" the packaging company formed through the merger of Ireland\u2019s Smurfit Kappa and U.S.-based Westrock\u2014has approved a $150 million (about R$840 million) investment to expand and modernize its operations in Brazil. The investment, already cleared by the board, is expected to be implemented over a period of 18 to 22 months. \u201cWe have capacity expansion projects<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17675,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[1093],"class_list":["post-17674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corrugated-folding-carton","tag-smurfit-westrock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17674"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17676,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17674\/revisions\/17676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cpmirror.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}