PLANO NACIONAL DE RESÍDUOS SÓLIDOS - Revista O Papel

InterviewGrubisich:“We will playa leadingrole in theglobal market,with highperformanceteams thatfocus oninnovation andsustainability”O Papel – What was your perception of the pulpsector prior to becoming president of Eldorado?What reasons lead you to accept the challenge ofleading a company in its initial phase?José Carlos Grubisich – I have alwaysconsidered Brazil’s pulp sector as being one witha huge competitive advantage. Over the years,Brazil developed significant competencies onthe industrial side, but, most importantly, in theforestry area. During its entire trajectory, the pulp’sindustry innovated and expanded its industrialquality, strengthening its market position andbecoming a benchmark. I see Eldorado Brasil’sentrance in this market as an important milestonein the sector’s history, not only in Brazil, but alsoworldwide. This is a new company that is enteringa capital intensive sector, in a cyclical industry,which demonstrates the confidence of our mainshareholder (J&F) in the capacity of Brazilianscompanies to develop and make a difference in theinternational scenario. This is basically the reasonthat led me to embrace this new project.O Papel – What is the status of construction atthe Três Lagoas (MS) mill?Grubisich – Eldorado’s first production line, witha capacity of 1.5 million tons of pulp, has 72% ofits physical structure concluded. The site is alreadyconceived and practically all earthmoving work hasbeen done, potentially foreseeing three productionlines. Our plan is to begin heating up the boilers andcommissioning the first industrial unit as of the endof October, in order to obtain the cooking of woodand the initial start-up of the pulp line during themonth of November. The process is absolutely undercontrol from a timeframe, cost and investmentquality perspective.O Papel – The total investment announced at thebeginning of the project, back in 2010, was R$ 4.8billion. This year, the company began stating a valueof R$ 6.2 billion. Does this mean that the projectexceeded the initial amount planned?Grubisich – No. The R$6.2 billion investmentcontemplates the company’s production, forestryand logistics infrastructures. In fact, the amountearmarked for the production unit exceeded thecompany’s expectations. Since Eldorado boughtequipment and contracted services at a momentwhen investments in the pulp sector slowed down,the company obtained much more competitiveconditions than other cases in the recent past.Savings ranged between 10% and 15% of the valuerelative to similar projects already executed inBrazil. In an intensive capital industry, when we areable to reduce the amount of financial resources bythis percentage range, we achieve a very importantadvantage for the future, which will positivelyreflect in our cash generation capacity.O Papel – Has the capital investment issuealready been resolved by the company?Grubisich – The capital structure of EldoradoBrasil is divided between the J&F holding company(50.15%), MJ Empreendimentos (16.72%) andFIP Florestal (33.13%), an equity investment fundcomposed of the largest pension funds in Brazil,such as Petros (Petrobras) and Funcef (CaixaEconômica Federal). This composition, coupledwith loans from the National Bank of Economicand Social Development (BNDES), ConstitutionalFinancing Fund of the Midwest (FCO) and theExport Credit Agency (ECA), fulfilled the financialinvestment needs of the company at this moment.O Papel – Is the forestry project keeping up withthe construction of the industrial complex? Howmany hectares have been planted so far?Grubisich – Last year, 31,000 hectares ofeucalyptus forests were planted by Eldorado. Atpresent, the company possesses a total area of80,000 hectares of forests earmarked for pulpproduction, of which 20% correspond to land areasowned by the company. For 2012, the forecast is toplant another 35,000 hectares. This strong plantingprogram will extend over the next few years untilEldorado achieves 100% of company-owned forestsin 2017. In an integrated project such as this, it isnecessary to define an average radius in order notto have to bring raw material from very distant52 Revista O Papel - abril/April 2012