With a highly prominent position in the international pulp and paper market, the Portucel Soporcel group is one of Portugal's strongest brands in international markets and one of Europe's major manufacturers of UWF - Uncoated Woodfree Paper. It is also Europe's largest manufacturer of bleached eucalyptus kraft pulp (BEKP), and indeed one of the largest in the world.

The Portucel Soporcel group has gained a leading position in the eucalyptus forestry industry and its own sector - the pulp and paper industry - to become a pillar of the national economy.

The Group accounts for:

• 3% of tangible Portuguese exports of goods and in conjunction with domestic sales, 0.7% of Portuguese GDP;
• 2% of industrial GDP.

As a whole, the Group:

• generates annual turnover in excess of euro 1.1 billion;
• exports more than euro 950 million - over 92% of its pulp and paper sales - to many different countries;
• sells 18% of exports in non EU markets;
• has production capacity for 1.03 million tonnes of paper and 1.34 million tonnes of pulp (of which 780 thousand are integrated into paper);
manages 120 thousand hectares of forest.

With the majority of its products sold in Europe, the Group has its own sales network, with support structures in the main European cities and the US. This ensures not only a constant presence close to clients but also that their needs are duly satisfied.

Over the years, the Group has deployed an extremely successful mill brand development strategy that now collectively account for roughly 60% of manufactured product sales. This strategy was leveraged by unique quality and service levels and the continuous reinforcement of brand awareness and prestige within which Navigator, the world's best selling premium office paper, plays a highly prominent role.

At the European level, the Group is a leading supplier of bleached eucalyptus pulp to the specialty paper segment and accounting for more than 50% of sales.

Forests, its raw material sources, are an area of strategic importance for the Portucel Soporcel group, which, through responsible forestry management, contributes towards the competitiveness of a sector of crucial importance to the national economy.

The Group has 102 thousand hectares of forest certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), actively promoting biodiversity management. Furthermore in this field, the partnerships established with the WWF - World Wildlife Fund for Nature have resulted in the classification of almost 50% of its certified forest assets as high conservation value areas at landscapes level.

The Group also plays an important role in preventing and supporting the forest fires that regularly affect the Portuguese territory. In particular, the Group holds a majority stake in Afocelca, a complementary grouping of sector companies specialised in early fire fighting operations. In 2007, Afocelca invested more than euro 1.5 million in preventing and combating forest fires.

In terms of research and development, the Group has a 94% holding in RAIZ - Instituto da Investigação da Floresta e Papel (Forestry and Paper Research Institute), which works on genetic improvements of the eucalyptus, the prime raw material for manufacturing high quality papers, and on improving forest management practices.

Industrially, the Group is structured around three mills, which are located in Setúbal, Figueira da Foz and Cacia and represent a global benchmark due to their size and state of the art technology. The Figueira da Foz mill is the largest integrated industrial facility in Europe producing office and UWF papers for the European graphics industry.
All mills operate to the highest level of environmental standards as reflected in the licences held.

The production processes adopted by the Group are also exemplary in terms of sustainability and energy efficiency insofar as they use forest biomass, a renewable fuel, as their main source of energy. The Group is currently the largest national producer of biomass energy. Portugal's forests, and in particular those managed by the Group, play an important role in absorbing carbon thereby contributing towards reducing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In the end of 2007, the Group's forests retained 26 times the volume of carbon emissions (in CO₂ equivalent units) of all its industrial and power generation facilities.

It should also be stated that Portucel Soporcel group CO₂ emissions represent only 0.8 % of total Portuguese industrial emissions covered by the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS).

The Group directly employs around 2,000 people and is responsible for generating skilled labour and specialist professional careers.

In keeping with its corporate social responsibility policy, the Group supports and takes part in projects designed to promote and support the welfare of local communities as well as preserving the natural heritage of regions hosting its industrial facilities and forests.

» Organisational Structure