Brazilian pulp and paper company Suzano is about a month into operating two newly acquired liquid packaging board sites in the United States. Executives shared more details about ramp-up at mills in Waynesville, North Carolina, and Pine Bluff, Arkansas, during a third quarter earnings call on Friday.
Suzano announced a $110 million deal with the mills’ former owner Pactiv Evergreen in July. The transaction closed on Oct. 1, at which point Suzano began operating both sites. Suzano CFO Marcelo Bacci said during an August earnings call that it would inherit some 850 people across the two assets, which represent 420,000 metric tons of integrated paperboard capacity and add production for packaging like fresh beverage cartons and paper cups.
“We remain very excited about the business opportunities that this move will bring Suzano in the future,” said Fabio Almeida de Oliveira, Suzano’s executive officer for paper and packaging, on Friday’s call.
Oliveira said that while the initial weeks at Pine Bluff went well, the mill dates back to the 1950s and lacks good maintenance. “There’s a turnaround story here for us on the industrial side. And we already have started with short-term, medium-term plans to bring this mill back into the level of operational stability that we believe we can achieve,” he said. Oliveira also commented that pine wood is attractively priced in Arkansas and the company is hopeful to “have a very competitive operation here in the near future.”
That site primarily services liquid packaging, a market that features long-term contracts and is “very stable in terms of demand and price.” Oliveira said Suzano is looking to expand the portfolio to also tap into the food service market.
CEO Beto Abreu confirmed to analysts Friday that bolt-on M&A is a “healthy” approach in the U.S. market. Abreu also said the Suzano team is “not planning any big ticket movement in the near future ... We have a lot to do with the assets that we already brought to the portfolio.” This follows Suzano’s attempt earlier this year to acquire International Paper.
Suzano reported that its third-quarter net revenue totaled approximately 12.3 billion Brazilian real, or about $2.16 billion by current U.S. dollar exchange rates. The company said this reflected a 37% year-over-year jump and is its highest quarterly performance since 2022.
