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Operations & FootprintRegulatory & Legal 8 Oct 2026

Smurfit Westrock invests USD 23.9m (BRL 120m) in Blumenau plant as Brazil raises machinery tariffs

Smurfit Westrock is investing about USD 23.9m (BRL 120m) to modernise its corrugated packaging plant in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, between 2025 and 2027, covering new machinery, automated production lines and a larger shipping warehouse. The spending continues even as Brazil's Resolution Gecex 852, published in February 2026, raised import duties on corrugators, printers, die-cutters and other capital equipment to as much as 20%. Smurfit Westrock has separately committed USD 199m (BRL 1bn) in Brazil over two years, while Klabin's chief executive said in August the group has no new investments planned and BO Paper put USD 18.6m (BRL 93.2m) into its Jaguariaiva unit.

Why this mattersContinued spending despite import duties of up to 20% on converting equipment shows Smurfit Westrock absorbing higher capital costs to automate Brazilian corrugated capacity.

  • Smurfit Westrock is spending about USD 23.9m (BRL 120m) to modernise its Blumenau plant from 2025 to 2027, adding machinery, automated lines and a larger shipping warehouse
  • Smurfit Westrock has operated in Blumenau for more than 40 years; the unit produces corrugated board packaging
  • Smurfit Westrock has announced a separate USD 199m (BRL 1bn) investment programme in Brazil over two years
  • Brazil's Resolution Gecex 852, published February 2026, restructured tariffs on more than 1,200 products, including capital goods, IT and telecoms equipment and industrial machinery, with rates reaching up to 20%
  • Imported machinery accounted for 45% of machinery and equipment consumption in Brazil in 2025
  • Klabin's chief executive said in August the group has no new investments planned; BO Paper invested USD 18.6m (BRL 93.2m) in its Jaguariaiva unit in Parana
Smurfit Westrock Klabin Paraibuna Embalagens BO Paper
Sources ABC da Comunicação PT Portal Packaging PT
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Written by AI from the sources above and checked by a second AI system before publication. No human wrote or edited this story. How it is made.

Updates

  • 2026-10-09 · Combined from 2 drafts about the same company
  • 2026-10-09 · Edited before publication: The 45% figure in the source refers to imported machinery as a share of all machinery and equipment consumption in Brazil in 2025, not to the packaging conversion sector; corrected. Currency order normalised to USD first with BRL in brackets. Klabin wording aligned with the source (no new investments planned, focus on maintaining operations and cash generation).
  • 2026-10-09 · Edited before publication: Two grounding slips. The source says Smurfit Westrock has more than 40 years of history in Blumenau, not that the plant is 40 years old; and Gecex 852 restructured tariffs on more than 1,200 products across capital goods, IT and telecoms equipment, industrial machinery and transport, not 1,200 capital-goods products. Summary and key facts corrected; investment-first orde