Suzano, the world's largest pulp producer, announces its financial results for the second quarter of 2024 (2Q24).
Adjusted EBITDA totaled R$6.3 billion, a 60% increase on 2Q23, reflecting higher pulp prices, favorable FX rates, increased sales volume, and reduced production costs compared to the same period last year. Operating cash generation totaled R$4.5 billion, the strongest quarterly result since 1Q23, and net revenue came to R$11.5 billion, the strongest quarterly result since 4Q22.
Pulp sales reached 2.5 million tonnes, while paper sales totaled 333,000 tonnes. The cash cost of pulp production, excluding downtime, was R$828 per tonne. Suzano reported a net loss of R$3.8 billion due to the foreign exchange impact in the financial results, with a non-cash impact until maturity of such financial transactions.
Driven by the strong EBITDA performance, Suzano's US dollar leverage decreased from 3.5 times to 3.2 times, in line with Suzano's expectation to execute its largest-ever capital investment project within the limits established in the company´s policy. As of the end of June, Suzano had deployed 89% of the R$22.2 billion total planned investment in the Cerrado Project, the world's largest single-line pulp mill.
Beto Abreu, CEO of Suzano, commented:
"The Cerrado Project's startup represents a significant milestone in Suzano´s century-long history and its future capacity for value generation. With the lowest structural cost across all our operations, the new mill will enhance our scale and competitiveness in the pulp business. At the same time, we continue to advance in other strategic avenues, including the acquisition of industrial assets from Pactiv Evergreen and taking a significant minority stake in Lenzing."
Suzano's new mill began operations on July 21 in the municipality of Ribas do Rio Pardo, Mato Grosso do Sul state, with an annual production capacity of 2.55 million tonnes. The mill´s ramp-up process is expected to be completed in 2Q25.
Between June and July, Suzano also announced the acquisition of a 15% stake in Lenzing, the Austria-based specialist in cellulose fiber production for the textile industry, as well as the acquisition from Pactiv Evergreen of two US-based mills that manufacture liquid packaging board and cupstock.
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