Sustainable economy

The Company continues to increase its forest area, through active prospecting and partnerships with Timber Investment Management Organizations (TIMOs), funds specialized in the purchase, sale, and management of forest assets. In December 2023, Klabin announced the signing of a contract with Arauco, valued at USD 1.160 billion, for the acquisition of companies whose assets represent 150,000 hectares of total area. Of this total, 85,000 hectares are productive areas and 31.5 million tons of wood, as well as forest machinery and equipment. 

In the pulp segment, demand remained suppressed, especially in the first half of 2023, particularly in the printing, writing, and specialty segments. Klabin's pulp unit sold 1.546 million tons in 2023, a volume similar to the previous year. 

Klabin's position as the only Brazilian company to produce and market three types of pulp (hardwood, softwood, and fluff) translates into a diversified sales mix, coupled with geographic sales flexibility. This allowed the company to direct a larger volume to China, where demand remained stronger compared to other regions during the same period, enabling the maximization of revenue management and business margins. The solid performance of fluff pulp stands out, which achieved record sales volume since the beginning of operations, while maintaining prices at good levels. 

In 2023, the net revenue from pulp reached BRL 5.693 billion, a 19% downturn compared to 2022. The cash cost of pulp production was BRL 1,337 per ton in 2023, maintaining the same level as 2022, excluding the impacts of the maintenance shutdown conducted in 2Q23. 

The new consumer habits observed since the beginning of the pandemic, coupled with the trend towards sustainable packaging consumption, continued to be the main drivers of demand for paperboard. At Klabin, the high exposure to essential product segments, especially food and beverages, contributed to greater stability of results in this market. In 2023, the volume of paperboard sales was 705,000 tons, 1% higher than in 2022. The sales revenue from paperboard was BRL 3.931 billion for the year, representing an 11% growth compared to 2022, due to price adjustments in recent quarters, which offset the appreciation of the Brazilian real against the US dollar on exported volume. 

The containerboard market was challenging throughout 2023. The entry of new capacities and high levels of buyer inventory translated into lower prices throughout the year. In this scenario, the Company maintained its strategy of increasing integration of kraftliner into its corrugated board plants and conducted production shutdowns to optimize results, based on demand, prices, and production costs. As a reflection of market conditions and the strategy adopted to address them, the sales volume of containerboard paper was 391,000 tons in 2023, 31% lower than that of 2022. The net revenue was BRL 1.477 billion, down 48% compared to the previous year. 

In 2023, Klabin's corrugated board shipping volume recorded a 1.4% reduction in tons and a 0.5% increase in square meters, mainly due to the lower grammage of Eukaliner® paper, which makes it possible to manufacture sturdier and lighter boxes. The net revenue increased by 2% compared to 2022, totaling BRL 5.079 billion, a result of price positioning throughout the year. The new corrugator at the Horizonte Plant in Ceará also came online in 2023, providing an additional production capacity of 80,000 tons per year. With this new investment, Klabin consolidates itself as the leading supplier of corrugated board packaging in the North and Northeast regions. 

With the primary objective of increasing flexibility and improving market responsiveness, especially in the miscellaneous segment (food, chemicals, seeds, fertilizers, etc.), which requires more technology, Klabin began operating a new bag line in the Lages Plant (SC) in 2023. This was in response to the growing demand for sustainable packaging, especially as a substitute for single-use plastics. This was a means of expanding markets to other segments, beyond the traditional construction sector, for which Klabin already supplies bags. The 1.4% contraction in the cement market in 2023 contributed to an 8% reduction in the volume of industrial bag sales compared to 2022. However, net revenue grew by 6%, reaching BRL 1.290 billion due to increased sales of higher value-added products and price positioning.