The Klabin company is the largest paper and cardboard for packaging manufacturer in Brazil, as well as the greatest paper packaging manufacturer in the country. They have the capacity to manufacture 1.5 million tons of paper products per year.
But according to the their general director, Miguel Sampol, Klabin is to increase this capacity to 2 million tons by 2007. This is because the company plans to invest US$ 1 billion in their industrial units.
US$ 500 million will be invested in the paper factory located in Telêmaco Borba, city in the state of Paraná, alone. In all, the company has 18 units spread over eight Brazilian states and another one in Argentina.
Half of these investments, according to the company, will come from their own resources, and the other half from outsiders, including the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES).
One of the aims is to increase exports participation in revenues. According to Sampol, the idea is to increase to 35% the percentage of external sales in the company’s revenues.
Currently Klabin exports to 54 countries in all continents. In the period between January and September this year they exported US$ 229.5 million and had revenues of US$ 881.6 million.
Klabin is a family company which was founded in 1899. Today, the company’s activities generate 12,000 direct and indirect jobs. The company is self sufficient in wood, used in the manufacture of paper and cellulose, and has about 186,000 hectares of planted forests.
The firm has been selling regularly to the Arab world for 5 years. The company exports to the region paper of the “kraftliner” quality, used in the production of packaging such as cardboard boxes.
In 2004 the company shipped 16,510 tonnes of the product to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman, Syria and Tunisia.
Klabin, however, has plans to increase their presence in the Arab countries. “The (Arab) market is consistent and we have great interest in it. But we find ourselves in the middle of the development process (of this market),” said the company’s commercial director, Donald Mota.
ANBA ”“ Brazil-Arab News Agency