Beginning and origins
Klabin's history begins with the arrival of two families of Lithuanian immigrants to Brazil; the Klabins and the Lafer.[9] In 1889, Maurício Freeman Klabin[10] arrived in the country and, in 1890, founded the printing company M.F.Klabin & Irmão.[11] In 1894, his uncle, Zelman Lafer, arrived with his son Miguel Lafer; his brothers Salomão, Hessel and Luiz Klabin came from the United States. Afterwards, his cousins Max Klabin, Wolff Kadischewitz, Lazar Kadischewitz and Henrique Kadischewitz also came to Brazil.[12][13]
In 1899, united by their homeland and family, Lafer-Klabin brothers and cousins founded Kablin Irmãos & Cia. (KIC) in the city of São Paulo, a store, manufacturing workshop, and importer of office and typography supplies.[14][9]
In 1902, KIC leases the Fábrica de Papel Paulista, in Itu, with the contract ending in 1907. In 1909, KIC established its first mill, the Companhia Fabricadora de Papel, which only began operating in 1914, and by the 1920s, had become one of the largest manufacturers in the sector in Brazil.[9] In 1920 Klabin Irmãos e Cia. opened its office in Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil.[3]
1930s and 1940s
In the 1930s, the company began to be managed by cousins Wolff Kadischewitz Klabin (1880–1957), Horácio Lafer, and Samuel Klabin[14] (second generation of family managers[15]). The rise of the Klabin Group began in this period, with expansion in the paper sector and diversification of business, such as the leasing of Manufatura Nacional de Porcelanas S/A in 1931.[3][15][9]
In 1934, a Klabin head office was founded in Parana[9] (Industrias Klabin do Parana de Celulose[11]
1950s and 1960s
Klabin started to invest in the production of rayon with the purchase of part of Rilsan Brasileira S/A[11] in 1951, and in new industrial sectors, such as the acquisition of Companhia Universal de Fosforos,[11] in 1955, in São Paulo. In 1953, in the presence of President Getúlio Vargas, the Presidente Vargas Hydroelectric Plant, built and run by Klabin, was inaugurated in Parana. In the transport sector, the company built the Telemaco Borba Cable Car in 1959.[3]
In 1961, the Vila Anastácio Unit became the largest corrugated paper production capacity in Latin America.[3] In 1963, paper machine number 6 (Expansion Project III) of the Monte Alegre Unit was inaugurated. On that occasion, President João Goulart, together with other authorities, visited the plant.[3]
1970s
In 1973, production began at Papelão Ondulado do Nordeste (Ponsa), in Goiana (PE), a pioneer in the manufacture of cellulose from sugarcane bagasse.[3] In Lages, Celucat Artes Gráficas was inaugurated, producing bags and envelopes.[3]
In 1979, the Samuel Klabin Ecological Park was created on the Monte Alegre Farm, with an area of approximately 11 thousand hectares, where 71% is formed by natural forests.[3]
Still in 1979, the company started to adopt the administrative professionalization in its companies and soon after, each family created a holding company, which individually determined a member to represent them in the general council. The board of directors was then established and the company went public on the São Paulo Stock Exchange.[3] In the following years, Kaplin adapted and modernized its administrative management, enabling the expansion of its industrial power with the multiplication of companies on national soil and several international investments.
1980s
On February 14, 1980, Project IV, which aimed to modernize and expand paper production at Industrias Klabin do Parana, was officially concluded. President João Baptista de Oliveira Figueiredo and Parana governor Ney Braga participated in the occasion, in the company of other federal, state, and municipal authorities, in Telemaco Borba.[3]
In 1984, Klabin's Phytotherapy Program was created, with the objective of producing phytotherapeutic products using native botanical species. The Program was the first in the world related to the management of non-timber forest products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) in 1999. The company's collection of local flora has already accounted for 2,249 taxonomically confirmed species, of which 1,078 were collected on the Monte Alegre Farm alone, from 150 different botanical families. In the collection, the species correspond to 628 trees, 939 shrubs, 682 herbs, and the rest are under review. The origin of the exsicatas comes from various regions of the Monte Alegre Farm in Telemaco Borba (76%), from other municipalities in Parana, and, to a lesser extent, from other states in Brazil. As for the specimens collected in Telemaco Borba, 93% are from the Monte Alegre Farm and 7% from other locations in the city.[3]
In 1989, the Scientific Breeding Ground was created in the ecological park, dedicated to the conservation and behavioral studies of fauna species. The Frans Krajcberg Nature Interpretation Center was also created, offering a space for the development of environmental education project activities and a museum collection with zoological and botanical pieces to convey knowledge of the region's biodiversity.
1990s
In October 1995, the then called IKPC - Indústrias Klabin de Papel e Celulose S.A. acquired Votorantim's share in KIV Participações S.A., a company formed by Klabin S.A., Parisa Participações S.A. (Iochpe Group) and S.A. Indústrias Votorantim.[3]
In 1997, in a joint venture with Kimberly Clark, KCK Tissue S.A. is created to produce tissue paper in Argentina. The same year also saw the separation of the Packaging and Disposables Business Units. In May 1998, Klabin and Kimberly Clark formed a joint venture called Klabin Tissue S.A., with equal stakes, operating in the sanitary paper market in Brazil. Klabin led the Brazilian market with traditional brands of toilet paper, as well as kitchen towels, napkins and tissues; the company later became Klabin Kimberly S.A.[3]
In 1998 the State Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) Monte Alegre Farm was created by Decree 182 of the Environmental Institute of Parana (IAP), with an area of 3,852 hectares. Also in 1998, Klabin's forests are certified by the FSC becoming the first company in the Americas from the pulp and paper sector to receive this certification. At the Piracicaba Plant, the TetraPak recycling machine is inaugurated.[3]
2000s
In 2000, the company became the owner of 99% of the shares of Klabin Riocell S.A. (currently Klabin S.A.).[3] In July 2000, it acquired Igaras Papéis e Embalagens, a Brazilian manufacturer of paper and cardboard boxes, for 918 million reais, with three units: Otacilio Costa (Santa Catarina), Ponte Nova (Minas Gerais) and Angatuba (São Paulo). At the time of the acquisition, Klabin increased its share of the Brazilian carton market from 18% to 30%.[16] In 2001, the company went through a restructuring and adopted the Klabin S.A. brand.[3]
On October 17, 2002, the Klabin Herbarium was created, in order to research and analyze botanical species in the company's forest areas, as well as to identify, classify and study the morphoanatomical characteristics of the species.[17]
In 2003, the company decides to cease production of newsprint and in 2008, the Expansion Project MA-1100 is inaugurated at the Monte Alegre Unit (PR).[3]
2010s
In 2011, Arauco Forest Brasil, a subsidiary of Celulosa Arauco y Constitución, announced, together with Klabin, the purchase of an area of 107,000 hectares of land in Parana, where 63,000 hectares are dedicated to commercial forests (reforestation). The purchase was estimated at $473.5 million, where they acquired 100% of the total capital of Florestal Vale do Corisco Ltda. based in Jaguariaíva. The intermediation was carried out by Centaurus Holdings S.A., comprising a 51% stake by Klabin and 49% by Arauco.[19][20] Also in 2011, the Klabin Group made a land acquisition for the construction of a new pulp mill in Parana. Klabin entered a new phase of expansion and investments by announcing the purchase of land in Campina dos Pupos, in the town of Ortigueira, near Telemaco Borba. In 2014 the construction of the new industrial unit began and, in the same year, the State Private Natural Heritage Reserve (RPPN) Serra da Farofa Complex was created in Santa Catarina, being Klabin's largest RPPN. Covering 4,987.16 hectares of remaining Atlantic Forest area, the reserve comprises the municipalities of Bocaina do Sul, Painel, Rio Rufino, Urubici, and Urupema. The place is home to at least 600 species of flora and 75 species of fauna, including the araucaria forest, altitude fields, and the sources of the Caveiras and
2020s
In March 2020, Klabin expanded its packaging sector by buying the Brazilian packaging division of competitor International Paper, which represented an increase of 310 thousand tons/year. The units located in Suzano, Franco da Rocha and Paulínia (São Paulo); Manaus (Amazonas) and Rio Verde (Goiás) were acquired. The Nova Campina unit, which was included in the negotiation, was sold to the Klingele Paper & Packaging Group.[43][44][45][4]
Also in 2020, Klabin incorporated Sogemar and ended the dispute involving the payment of royalties to the Lafer-Klabin family for the use of the "Klabin" brand.[46][47]
