Founded in 1924, Suzano celebrates its 101st anniversary in January 2025 . As the world's largest pulp company, our century-old history is filled with interesting facts that you might not know. We share below 10 of them – and some might surprise you.

1. It all started with a paper company

Leon Feffer, a Ukrainian immigrant, found the opportunity to pursue entrepreneurship in Brazil. In 1924, he founded his sole proprietorship for paper trading - which would later evolve into Suzano. The business expanded and became a small paper bag factory in 1929.

2. Courage is part of our history

In 1939, Leon's business was struggling due to a shortage of raw materials, as World War II made it difficult to import paper into Brazil. And what did our founder do? He decided to produce the paper. The problem is that he didn't have the capital for it, so he sold all his possessions – even the house he lived in with his family!

Courage paid off. Two years later, in 1941, Leon inaugurated the first paper mill, the Ipiranga unit, which was located in the Ipiranga neighborhood of São Paulo, the state capital.

3. We helped revolutionize the global pulp and paper industry

Max Feffer, Leon's son, started working at Suzano in 1949 – and his innovative vision became crucial to the company. In 1952, Max began leading groundbreaking research on the possibility of producing pulp from eucalyptus cultivated in Brazil.

The research yielded results, and the production of eucalyptus pulp, initiated by Suzano in 1956, emerged as a new alternative for the global industry.

4. Our name is a tribute

The company's name is a gesture of gratitude to the city of Suzano, located in the interior of São Paulo, which has warmly welcomed us since 1955, when we established a pilot plant to produce eucalyptus pulp. The Suzano Unit is our oldest operational mill, and this year it celebrates its 70th anniversary!

5. We are present in the lives of 2 billion people

That's right: about 25% of the world's population uses our products every day!

You may also be one of those people, after all, items such as toilet paper, tissue paper, diapers, books, packaging, paper bags and pet mats are manufactured from our raw materials, for example. Find out more on the Products and Brands page.Find out more on the Products and Brands page.Find out more on the Products and Brands page.Find out more on the Products and Brands page.Find out more on the Products and Brands page.

6. We have operations in Brazil and abroad

In total, Suzano has 13 mills and a joint operation in Brazil and three international mills – two in the United States and a joint venture in Finland. Additionally, we have offices in 10 countries, including Brazil, and nearly 50,000 people work with us, including our own team and outsourced employees. Check our addresses on the Where We Are page.

7. We monitor the fauna and flora in Brazil

We have about 1.6 million hectares of planting areas and 1.1 million hectares of conservation areas in Brazil.  And we closely monitor all the biodiversity on our lands. Considering the last 12 months, we have already registered more than 4,500 species of fauna and flora in our territories - 190 threatened with extinction and 180 endemic, which means that they only live in certain regions. Find out more about our environmental actions on the Environment and Biodiversity page.

8. We closely monitor the Brazilian climate  

We are the company with the largest number of meteorological stations in Brazil, with a network consisting of more than 160 stations, both privately owned and public. They gather data on temperature, rainfall volume and air humidity, which is essential to help us in predicting climate risks and adopting the best forestry practices.

9. We discovered a new species of amphibian  

It was in Neblinas Park, an environmental reserve located in Bertioga and Mogi das Cruzes, in the state of São Paulo, managed by Suzano's Ecofuturo Institute, where a team of researchers identified an amphibian species previously unknown to science. This is the "sapinho da neblina" (fog toadlet, in English), or Brachycephalus ibitinga, its scientific name

The amphibian measures between 1.1 and 1.7 centimeters in length – smaller than a fingernail! It is orange, and its skin contains a structure that causes it to glow under ultraviolet light.

10. We plant every day

In Brazil, our team plants 1.2 million eucalyptus seedlings every day, all year round. This is fully aligned with our purpose of “Renewing life inspired by trees,” manufacturing more sustainable products and solutions that can help replace fossil-based items, such as plastic.

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Did you enjoy our interesting facts and want to learn more about us? Explore the History page to learn about what we have accomplished and what we plan to build in the coming decade.

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