Suzano S.A.

What it is

Suzano is the world’s largest maker of eucalyptus pulp — the wood fibre that other companies turn into tissue, cardboard boxes and paper. It produces roughly 17% of global market pulp supply through more than eight mills across Brazil and serves over 80 countries.

Its edge is biological: eucalyptus trees mature in just seven years compared with nearly 20 for pine, giving a low cash cost of roughly $150 per tonne — among the most competitive globally. Pulp is the bulk of the business; paper and packaging are the smaller second leg.

Who owns it

The company is controlled by the Feffer family, descendants of founder Leon Feffer. Individual family members — David, Daniel, Jorge and Ruben Feffer — together with related entities hold about 49.3% of the shares, and a voting agreement amended in July 2022 binds 50.8% of the capital into one bloc.

The single largest holder is the family vehicle Suzano Holding S.A., with 29.1% of the shares. The rest trades freely; large global funds such as BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street sit among the outside owners.

Who runs it

João Alberto Fernandez de Abreu became chief executive on 1 July 2024, a role kept separate from the chairman. Marcos Moreno Chagas Assumpção is the Executive Vice-President of Finance and Investor Relations — in plain terms, the finance chief.

David Feffer chairs the board, with Daniel Feffer and Nildemar Secches as vice-chairmen. The family thus sets direction from the boardroom while professional managers run the day-to-day.

The money, in plain words

Suzano keeps about 27 cents of profit from every real of sales — a net margin of 26.8% (our calculation), unusually high and a sign of those low wood costs. Its rules promise shareholders at least 25% of adjusted yearly profit as dividends.

For every real owners put in, it earns about 26 back a year — a return on equity of 26.3%, strong. The shares look cheap at 4.7× profit (price-to-earnings), but that reflects how violently pulp prices swing.

The caution sits on the balance sheet: against R$15.2bn (about US$2.9bn) of cash, debt runs to R$106.3bn (about US$20.6bn), leaving net debt near R$91bn (about US$17.7bn) (our calculation). This is a heavily borrowed business, normal for one that builds billion-dollar mills.

What it is doing now

Suzano is pushing downstream into finished consumer goods. In June 2025 it agreed a US$3.4bn joint venture with Kimberly-Clark in tissue, taking a 51% controlling interest with Kimberly-Clark keeping 49%.

Suzano will pay US$1.734bn in cash at closing. All required competition approvals are now in hand, and the company expects to close in the third quarter of 2026.

The deal hands it global brands such as Kleenex and Scott across 70-plus countries.

What to watch

Pulp is a commodity, so profit rises and falls with a price Suzano cannot control. Its main risks are cyclical pulp-price downturns, Brazilian currency swings, and environmental scrutiny tied to large single-species plantations and water use.

Watch three things: whether the Kimberly-Clark tissue venture closes on schedule and lifts margins; the path of global pulp prices; and how fast the heavy debt is paid down.

This is news, not investment advice.