Good morning and welcome to Klabin's Conference Call About Project Caetê. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later on, we will conduct a Q&A session when further instructions will be provided. In case you require any assistance, please press the star followed by zero. We kindly ask that for the benefit of time, each analyst asks a minimum maximum of two questions. As a reminder, this conference call is being recorded and also being broadcast simultaneously via webcast, and that can be accessed through Klabin's Investor Relations website where the presentation is also available. Any statements eventually made during this conference call in connection with Klabin's business outlook, projections, operating and financial targets, and potential growth should be understood as merely forecasts based on the company's management expectations in relation to the future of Klabin.
Such expectations are highly dependent on market conditions, on Brazil's overall economic performance, and on the industry and international markets, and therefore are subject to change. Present with us today are Mr. Cristiano Teixeira, CEO, Marcos Ivo, CFO and IRO, Sandro Ávila, Forestry Director, and Mariangela Bartholomeu, Legal Officer, and Gabriella Michelucci, Corporate Finance and Investor Relations. Initially, Mr. Teixeira and Mr. Ivo will comment on the Caetê project. After that, all of the officers will be available to answer your questions. Now I'll turn the floor over to Mr. Cristiano. Cristiano, you may proceed. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. Since the approval of the Puma II project and more recently at our Klabin Day, we've been communicating to you our wood supply plan for Paraná with a great deal of transparency and consistency.
Now, I'm very pleased, you know, myself, Marcos Ivo, and the entire officers of Klabin. I'm delighted to announce the signing of the agreement for the acquisition of 85,000 hectares of Arauco in Paraná, the productive forest, in the sum of $1.16 billion. With this operation, we will anticipate the achievement of Klabin's wood self-sufficiency target, and we'll also conclude the expansion of land in Paraná. Among the benefits of the acquisition, I would like to highlight the significant reduction in future CapEx and the significant gains in operating synergies. After the first wood harvest cycle, the operation will also provide the opportunity to monetize this excess land in line with Klabin's 75% target for self-sufficiency in Paraná. This is yet another move that reinforces the company's focus on operating efficiency, diligent capital allocation, value creation, and financial responsibility.
Now I would like to turn the floor to Marcos Ivo, who will present the details of the transaction, and then we will come back with the Q&A.
Thank you, Cristiano. Good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to talk to you this morning about this important move by Klabin. We have a presentation for you which is quite long, but that is only because we wanted to provide all of the detailed information to the market so that you would be able to analyze this in more depth. Thus, in order for us to also have some time for the Q&A session, I will only go over the main slides of the presentation, and the complete deck of slides will be available for download later on. On page four of the presentation, I have a detail of the scope of the transaction. We acquire Arauco forest operation in Paraná.
This contemplates 150,000 hectares of total area, 85,000 hectares of productive area, 31.5 million tons of wood, standing wood, meaning the wood that is planted in this forest. This forest is certified by FSC, and the acquisition price is $1.16 billion to be paid in full at the closing of the transaction. We believe that all the approvals will be in place in the next few months, and the closing of the transaction will take place in the second quarter of 2024. I would like to highlight that there is no supply wood supply contract from Klabin to Arauco. We acquire with no other linkages in terms of providing woods to Arauco. Still, on page 4 on the left-hand side, we have the profile of that standing wood that is in place, that 31.5 million tons of wood is pines and eucalyptus, and 69% is pine.
The average age of the forest is quite good, meaning that there is a large volume of wood to be harvested starting in 2024. Now, moving to slide 5, and you will notice an important effort on the part of the company in terms of being very transparent so that the market can evaluate the transaction. Now, in this slide, we break down the elements of the transaction. The transaction involves three important value creation drivers. The first is the replacement of third-party woods that would be acquired, you know, throughout the next few years as we've been communicating to you since the project was approved, you know, Puma II was approved in 2019. We are no longer acquiring wood from third parties in a spread way, and we are buying wood from Arauco.
So the first value creation driver is the volume of wood that is no longer coming from third parties. And the second driver is operating synergies. Despite the fact that we bought market price, you know, when we talk about third-party wood price that we would pay from other suppliers, Arauco acquired areas are very favorable because they are located very close to Klabin's mills, which means less transportation costs. It's a very flat area, and the forestry roads are quite consolidated. All this put together leads to harvesting, transporting, and logistics of wood to be significantly lower when compared to other sources of wood supply. In addition, the third value creation leverage is the land excess that Klabin will have vis-à-vis our self-sufficiency target in Paraná. This information is well known to all of you. Klabin works with a self-sufficiency target in Paraná of 75%.
Once we harvest this first wood cycle, these assets acquired from Arauco, in parallel, we are growing the forest that Klabin acquired and leased in the last few years to supply to Puma II. So what will happen going forward? We will have some excess land in Paraná vis-à-vis my 75% self-sufficiency target, which means that we will have 60,000 exceeding land of productive area. So once we put all of these leverages of value creation together, the estimated value of the acquisition for Klabin is BRL 8 billion, discounting the acquisition price, including, you know, an exchange rate of 5 BRL per dollar. Value creation via NPV is about BRL 2.8 billion. I mean, the project is unleveraged, so based on our assumptions, we estimate that unleveraged to be about 13% in actual terms, and a very short payback when compared to typical investments in our industry.
So payback would be lower than 6 years. Moving to the next slide, slide 6, we have a breakdown of the purchase price. We paid BRL 5.8 billion for the asset. Once we conduct a very objective valuation of the standing wood, I mean, knowing the standing wood value, multiplying that by market price using third-party sources, we arrived at the amount of BRL 3 billion for the wood that we acquired. So when we look at the value of the land per difference, we have BRL 2.8 billion to be allocated in the land, and if we divide that by 85,000 hectares of productive area, then we arrive at the price of BRL 33,000 per hectare in this transaction, which is a price below market reference, and I here mentioned two public sources, you know, IHS Markit and FNP.
On page 7, I'm not going to go over the details of this slide, but the main message is quite visible in this slide. The light green areas represent Klabin's current assets in Paraná, and the areas in other colors are the areas that we are acquiring from Arauco. Therefore, the main message here has to do with the proximity of the acquired areas vis-à-vis our previous assets, and in many cases, we are referring to adjacent farms, and this is translated into great operating leverage. Also, it means that these acquired assets are located in the same region and a region that has the largest productivity in the world, both for pine and eucalyptus.
Now moving on to page 8, you might recall that this same slide was presented during our last Klabin Day on November 30th, and we also showed that last year, and this communication has been very consistent since 2019, since the day of the approval of the Puma II project. Moving now to page 9, here you have a better view of how this acquisition transforms the supply matrix of Klabin. This transformation leads us to two things. One, we will significantly anticipate the achievement of that 75% self-sufficiency target. For eucalyptus, this target will be reached in 2026, and for pine, we were able to significantly reduce our dependency from third-party wood.
In addition, it's also important to notice that synergies stemming from this transaction are not just happening in the period between 2024 and 2028 because it will continue throughout the following years, and mostly given to all of the impacts previously presented because from 2029 until 2037, we will continuously reduce our reliance on third-party wood because of the acquisition. Now going to page 10, on the left-hand side of the slide, we have a summary of the forestry expansion of Klabin to supply to Puma II project. I think you were very familiar with the fact that Klabin needed to expand land and plant forests in 85,000 hectares of productive area just to supply the expansion of the Puma II project. We had already expanded in 75,000 hectares, and there were still 15,000 hectares, you know, remaining to be completed.
With the acquisition, we will conclude that 15,000 hectares is still pending, and then we conclude 100% of our forestry expansion in Paraná to provide for the Puma II project. As we harvest and as the forests mature, Klabin will then have 60,000 hectares of excess productive land that could be monetized in the future, and we will soon give you more details about that. On the right-hand side of slide 10, I would also like to highlight the structural competitiveness that this acquisition will bring to Klabin's cash cost. Klabin's average radius, you know, of the two forests and the two mills in Paraná is 179 km. Right after the acquisition, I mean, with the acquisition of the Project Caetê , that average radius will go to 121 km.
As we start harvesting, you know, in the expanded areas, and if we remove that excess of 60,000 hectares from our supply matrix, Klabin's average radius will be 180 km in Paraná, which is highly competitive, especially bearing in mind that we are located in a forest region with the highest productivity in the world for eucalyptus and pine. Now going to slide 11, this is a good example of our efforts to extensively communicate this to the market. Together with the material fact of the acquisition that was signed yesterday, Klabin also communicated another material fact, giving a formal guidance of three numbers. The first number refers to CapEx. We provided you with a CapEx formal guidance for the next five years.
This really shows how much we trust the fact that this acquisition will bring about a significant reduction to our CapEx, and this will also bring important synergies to the company's cash cost. Now, speaking about CapEx alone, you will notice that CapEx for 2024 that we announced in our Klabin Day was BRL 4.5 billion. Now this new number has been adjusted to BRL 3.3 billion, mainly given the fact that we are reducing the purchases from third parties. So after that, from 2025 onwards, the numbers keep falling because of the synergies of Caetê project. Also, I mean, we only went into 2025 and only may not be the right word because there are not too many companies that can give you a very long CapEx guidance.
But CapEx synergies will continue after 2029, maybe at a lower level, but it will continue gradually, and you can establish that connection when you look at the pine, you know, supply matrix that I showed you a few slides back. Now moving to slide 12, we have two other guidances that were given to the market yesterday. On the left-hand side, we have the production cash cost per ton for 2024 of Klabin, BRL 3,000-3,100 BRL per ton, which means that there was a drop of 4% vis-à-vis the accumulated numbers for the first nine months of 2023. In addition, we also provided CapEx in terms of savings in cash cost for the period ranging from 2025 to 2028. That means an yearly savings in that period between BRL 350 million-BRL 400 million. Again, you know, BRL 350 million-BRL 400 million.
That's why we feel so certain, because this does not depend on market price. This cost reduction does not depend on market price. It only depends on our execution of the forestry operation in the region where we master, and this will come, you know, due to drops in logistic costs because the areas are adjacent to Klabin's mills and the areas are quite consolidated, in addition to lower harvesting costs. And given the fact that we have large forestry blocks and favorable topography, you know, flat areas, all of that can be a factor. Now moving on to page 13, here we give you some details about how we will, how we intend to monetize the exceeding land given, you know, our 75% self-sufficiency target.
Klabin will use 100% of the wood that is planted, and as we harvest the wood, and at the same time, you know, as the forests mature, on an annual basis, we will have an amount of exceeding land that can be monetized in two different ways. One way would be the selling of the areas throughout the year. So on the left-hand side of the chart, you see the number of hectares that will be available, you know, per year from 2025 until 2038. Also, I would like to highlight the features of the areas. One-third of the areas that will be available for monetization are areas that have an agricultural vocational, topography, and quality of the soil, meaning that the price of the land is very attractive, especially in the state of Paraná.
Another evaluation, I mean, you're very familiar with our history, a track record of continuous partnerships, and Klabin has been involved in that very successfully since 2018. Our forest expansion in Paraná was done with TIMOs resources, and we're very pleased with our partnerships. As of tomorrow, given the fact that now this acquisition has been concluded and it has become public, of course, everything is still subject to regulatory approvals, but we will initiate our dealings with TIMOs. Another potential monetization of this excess land is also through partnerships with TIMOs. Now moving to page 15, I just skipped slide 14 for the benefit of time, but slide 15 brings one additional look at the value creation of this transaction. We already talked about the 13% IRR when compared to the company's WACC of 7%. We can see a spread over, you know, WACC.
We also simulated several stress scenarios considering lower price of land, considering lower capture synergies, and in all scenarios, you find a very good value creation. In the annex of this presentation, we posted a table with a sensitivity analysis, and in any given case, we certainly have value creation. Now moving to slide 16, here we talk about our liquidity position and that leverage profile. First, on liquidity on the left side of the chart, the pro forma cash position of the company today is BRL 11.5 billion. This cash part starts from a public number of BRL 5.8 billion at the end of September of this year, and also this is added to two other funding that were mentioned to the market.
With that, we arrive at BRL 11.5 billion, discounting the amount of the transaction, and then Klabin will still have cash of BRL 5.8 billion, which is our regular cash position between BRL 5 billion and BRL 6 billion. Once we compare this cash that will be with the company after the full payment of the acquisition, this is enough to pay all of the debts that should mature in the next three years. Therefore, the message here is very robust liquidity after the payment, and the company does not need to get into new funding in the short run, be it to pay for the acquisition or even to keep a very good liquidity profile. On the next page, slide 17 on the left-hand side, we carry a projection.
In the light green line on the left, we have our projection of what would be Klabin's leverage measured through net debt over EBITDA, denominated in US dollars before the acquisition. In dark green, we have Klabin's leverage measured by the same indicator with the acquisition. So what do we see here? Naturally, there will be an increase in leverage in 2024. However, given the strong CapEx reduction brought about by the acquisition, in addition to cash cost synergies that will turn into EBITDA, then in 2025, we will find ourselves at a very similar level that, when compared to what we had before the acquisition, and after 2026, this acquisition is already a de-leveraging acquisition.
So I would like to highlight again that in any scenario, we will work in compliance with the debt policy of the company that was approved by the board and that is also available for you in our website. In terms of the rating agencies, S&P already posted a report this morning updating the transaction and maintaining Klabin's rating with no changes in the outlook. The S&P report clearly sees what I just said, you know, de-leveraging happening very quickly due to the benefits brought about by the project, in addition to the mitigation of several risks that the company had in the past. Now moving towards the end of the presentation on slide 18, here we have a timeline until the conclusion of the transaction. The signing was yesterday, so given the importance of this transaction, we need the approval of the general meeting, shareholders' general meeting.
We also need CADE's regulatory approval, and we expect that all approvals will take place in the next coming months with the closing payment and the fact that we will take over the asset. Everything should be in place by the second quarter of 2024. Now I'll turn the floor over to Cristiano.
Thank you, Marcos. I understand that now. We go to the Q&A. Is that it?
Okay, Cristiano.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now initiate the Q&A session. In case you have questions, please press star one. If you want to remove your question from the queue, please press star two. Our first question is from Daniel Sasson with Itaú BBA. You may proceed, sir.
Hello. Good morning. Good morning, everyone. Congratulations. I think this is the conclusion of hard work and many months of negotiations. So congrats.
My first question has to do with the tax part of the business. I would just like to get a better understanding because part of the drivers of value creation are related to the sale of those excess hectares that you mentioned. Do you anticipate, I mean, your business case anticipates the payment of of income tax on capital gains for the sale of the land. Are you already calculating some goodwill in that calculation, given the fact that apparently the price you paid is way below the market prices for the region? And my second question, just to have more clarity and to know whether my understanding is correct. Another point you mentioned when you talk about your value creation guidance, it has to do with cash cost synergies, about BRL 350 million-BRL 400 million a year.
Do you believe that with this transaction that you just announced, you were able to have a lower level that you would have in case you hadn't announced the plan to buy, you know, BRL 1 billion a year of standing wood by 2028? I mean, the average radius after the transaction with Arauco will be lower than what you envisioned two weeks ago when you gave us more detail about that standing wood CapEx. Thank you.
Marcos, can you start?
Certainly. Sasson, yes. In our business case, we anticipate payment of 34%. Therefore, the rate is full for taxes in terms of capital gains related to land monetization. I take this opportunity to mention something that was not considered in our business case. After taking over the company, there is a potential goodwill that could also generate some tax benefits to Klabin. And this was not contemplated.
We were conservative. We did not contemplate that in our valuation, but we will study that in the coming months. Cristiano, can you talk about the radius?
Yes, about that. Well, first of all, thank you for your questions. And yes, this asset, and if you allow me, I would also take this opportunity to thank Arauco through Matías Domeyko. Arauco is a brilliant company. They delivered a brilliant asset to us. There were 18 months of extensive conversation, and you mentioned the period. We had 18 months of very respectful conversations, and that really shows the high level of discussion between the companies when it comes to an asset of such a high added value. So therefore, yes, this acquisition, in addition to a lower average radius, I think Marcos shows during the presentation.
I'm at a different location, so I couldn't see the presentation, but I think he mentioned 108 km, which is the mean radius, the final mean radius for the plan. But little by little, we're bringing a lot of information in a very transparent way. I mean, we try to work in blocks, something that is analogous to Klabin. This farm is a productivity icon in the world, and with the acquisition of the new farms that came with this new asset, they are also beacons of productivity within that microregion in that region. So yield is spectacular. So we bring the benefit of a lower average radius when compared to what we had in the past. But moreover, this brings significant operating advantages going forward that are still very hard to calculate. Once the numbers are in place, we can share the numbers with you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Ivo and Cristiano. Our next question comes from Lucas Laghi from XP Investimentos. You may proceed, sir. Good morning.
Good morning, everyone. And congratulations on the transaction, and also congratulations for your transparency and the quality of the information. That was very complete. We have two questions. The first question, I think, I mean, your value leverages and CapEx reduction, cost reductions, that was very clear. I would just like to revisit the previous question related to the cost reduction leverage because when we look at the wood composition between the different blocks, we see that a significant part was more distant from the Monte Alegre mill with an average radius of about 203 km when compared to the forestry operation.
I know that the current 139 average radius. I know that this number is only for your own wood, but how do you intend to utilize, I mean, to utilize that? I mean, harvesting is probably, I mean, I think that probably your harvest will come from the more mature farms and how the dynamic will work. And what about that 203 km from the Caetê project? Is [it] comparable to the average radius of Klabin now considering the purchase of wood from third parties? Maybe my second question I can ask later because my first was very long already.
Okay, Lucas, thank you. Marcos, I apologize because Marcos and I are not in the same location, but I would also like to ask Sandro to join us in answering your question.
Thank you for your question. Chris and Marcos, thank you for the opportunity.
In fact, with this asset, I think it's important that we talk about our plan thus far. We have an operating plan which covers a period of four years. So the plan was already in place since Puma II to operate in four years. And our visibility, as mentioned through all of the materials in the conference call, says that 2/3 of our supply for the next years would be from longer, I mean, from farther away areas. And this was part of that operating challenge. But once we receive the asset and we integrate the asset, the way you could see on slide 7, then we have all the attributes from the forest, as mentioned before. Therefore, point number one, this is a forest of extremely high quality, excellent yield, and this is equivalent to Klabin's forest. Large blocks that are adjacent to our own blocks.
Therefore, so we will be operating in the same environment. We are familiar with Arauco, you know, operation. We operate together in these blocks. So it's a very unique forest. And when we look at the uniqueness of the area, not only the block is very large, it allows us to have a different harvesting system. The topography of the block is quite favorable as well. There are less slopes, and so I can work with conventional harvesting systems. Another important aspect when you look at the blocks is that I can make better use of the wood when you go to other blocks. When my harvesting system is not conventional, that I need some unique and special equipment, and then you have to move around with large equipment to work in certain windows.
But when you turn to large blocks and healthier forests because the forest was prepared through many processes, I have great increases in yield, which is quite relevant. And there is also the aspect of biomass. Our mills in Paraná have 52% self-sufficiency in terms of our own biomass. So when we start operating with these blocks, we use the entire tree so that own biomass self-sufficiency goes through 60%-65% self-sufficiency because it's a well-prepared forest. The roads around the farms have been prepared through several cycles. Arauco did some brilliant work in the forest. They built roads. These are forests that are very well managed. Therefore, the operation can be quite productive. Now, still, you know, to answer your question about the average radius, the logistics structure, structural logistics, not only decreases the average distance between mills. I mean, the entire forest covers 203 km.
I mean, Klabin that has the average radius of 139, in some areas where I had to go and pick up the wood, it's over 203. So at first, that number of 139 will fall to 121 and 108 later on when we only keep the blocks that matter to us to comply with that 75% self-sufficiency. Therefore, we have significant gains in terms of productivity and logistics. And all of these attributes, features, and advantages that we get from harvesting are then translated into forestry because I have a higher, you know, a larger mechanized area. I don't have to move my machinery around that much. I don't have to move people around that much. Therefore, the forestry planning of Klabin will have to be totally restructured, and it will be totally restructured in the next four years.
This is something that we started doing six months ago, which is reviewing our entire transportation grid and the harvesting grid as well. This is a major transformation when it comes to the forestry base of the state of Paraná.
Perfect. Very clear. My second question, well, it's certainly, you know, a sale leverage because of land. When I look at your schedule for a land sale, there will be an interval between BRL 48,000-BRL 62,000, I think, per hectare in terms of that leverage of land sale when compared to 2022 of BRL 72,000. I think this is in line with your expectation. Does that range make sense in terms of land sales? And how do you see the marginal price of land today that are being sowed currently in the state of Paraná when compared to that hypothetically, you know, range between BRL 48,000-BRL 72,000 per hectare?
Thank you again, and congratulations for the transaction.
Marcos, I will start here and then, Lucas, I don't know if I understood your question. I'm not sure if I understood your question, but I'll give you a more general answer anyway if Marcos got a better understanding. He can help me out here.
Okay. The land value in the state of Paraná, you can look at several sources to check the price of land, but these I think are the most valuable lands in Brazil. It's not a coincidence that it has the highest yield in the country. I'm not only referring to forests. I can also, you know, draw an analogy with the price of the land. Agriculture in Paraná is quite strong.
The state is developing a lot, not only in this current administration, but in past administrations. The Paranaguá port is very relevant, and they've been posting amazing efficiency numbers never seen before. All of that leads us to say that Paraná is a powerhouse of agriculture. Well, so then we all agree that land in Brazil is very resilient and very valuable in dollar terms, and it's been appreciating, you know, with time in dollar terms and considering, you know, depreciation and inflation and everything. Therefore, we are closely monitoring the evolution of prices. Then probably Marcos can elaborate a bit more. We already posted some public information. As I don't have the presentation before me, I'm not sure whether he showed you that.
But we broke down the areas per topography, soil characteristics, and also agricultural potential of the region because depending on the region, the use of the land may differ. Therefore, this possible sale of land in the future, I would just like to say, conceptually speaking, that maybe in addition to Klabin's core business, maybe this could be an area of greater value creation available to Klabin. So in addition to our core business, to our own business, I mean, which leads us to have, you know, competitive cash costs operating with high, you know, high-end areas as paper and pulp. But in addition to all of that, there is a lot of value creation once you look at these other opportunities involving the land. So I'm sorry. I was more conceptual because I didn't quite understand your question.
But if Marcos got a better understanding, he can certainly, you know, add.
Lucas, on page 13, we have that breakdown of land vocation as Cristiano mentioned. And again, I would like to highlight that 31% of the land that can be potentially monetized has an agricultural vocation. In the last two years, many reports on land use in Brazil were published. In the annex of this presentation, we have two traditional surveys, FNP and DERAL. I mean, there are several others. And you will come to the conclusion, Lucas, that the range that you mentioned makes sense. What is in our business case is not at the top of the number you said. It's probably more in the intermediary level, even below. But if you were to conduct a less conservative analysis, we were extremely conservative in the amount posted in our business case.
But if you look at trustworthy sources in the market, and if you apply the value, looking at the area of the area, you certainly arrive at numbers that are much higher than those considered in our business case.
Okay, perfect. This is what I wanted to understand, how that assumption is comparable to other assumptions in the market.
Our next question comes from Márcio Farid from Goldman Sachs. You may proceed, sir. Good morning.
Good morning, everyone. And congratulations on the announcement and the presentation. I have two questions. My first question is, looking at your presentation, I think there is slightly above 10% of an area that is close to Santa Catarina, the state of Santa Catarina. Is that part of the area that you acquire that could be eventually used for a potential future project in the state of Santa Catarina?
Or maybe I'm just a bit lost in the map, and we probably are not speaking about any synergies in Santa Catarina. My second question, I mean, our understanding is that the company made the strategic decision to start Puma II with less wood than what you wish to have in the long run so that you could have CapEx as you generate cash and help foot the bill. And then you were given this opportunity, and with this opportunity, you can bring to present value a CapEx that would be dispersed in the next coming years. So was your strategy to start with a little bit, and then this opportunity the opportunity came around, and then for the next few years, you would already have everything? But thinking about your next project, what would be the strategy adopted by Klabin?
Would you start your next project with very little wood, and if another opportunity arises, you will make another acquisition? Or you feel like you change the strategy and you start a new project with a higher availability of wood, I mean, higher than what you had for Puma II? Thank you.
Márcio, very good question because this gives us the opportunity to elaborate on this subject because this is a recurring subject at Klabin. We are 100% aligned. I will soon talk about Santa Catarina, but this is 100% aligned with the second part of your question. That was the strategy of Puma II. Now, in order to give you a better answer or to clarify your points, I must say that we have to look at Brazil per region. I will refer to another region in order to explain Paraná.
So let's look at all, you know, wood companies, I mean, hardwood companies went to Rio Grande do Sul. We started with Fibria, and then others followed suit. There, no one can start a plant without having a forestry base. Typically, the state of Rio Grande do Sul did not offer that wood market in the region, so you have to start building it from scratch. I remember that at the end of the 1990s, I think the end of the 1990s and beginning of the 2000s, in the midst of the 1990s, everybody was preparing their base in the state. I can mention a recent project by Suzano. It's another brilliant company in the industry. We know everything that their project entitles, and we've been aware of that, you know, even before the merger, more than 10 years ago.
We know that these projects take time, especially in a state that does not have a good wood supply. So you have to start early on. Now I'll go back to Paraná to answer your question. Paraná and the state of Santa Catarina, these two states are very unique when compared to other states of the country because these are consolidated wood markets, especially thick wood, which is the wood that we use, I mean, 50% in 50% of our products, the products in our portfolio. Therefore, in this region, the self-sufficiency level doesn't have to be as high. I mean, the characteristic is very different. You cannot look at Brazil by no means, and I do apologize for those that are very patriotic, but Brazil cannot be seen as something, you know, like a whole thing.
We have to look at different biomes and the characteristics of every region, both in terms of infrastructure, logistics, soil, rainfall. This is something I frequently say. Therefore, the answer, and my intention here was not to deviate from your question, but the answer is that if we go to regions, of course, that we are looking at several projects, but if we go to regions that are not traditional regions when it comes to planting forests, we will have to start working way in advance. And obviously, we start working with research and development first. What does it mean? We plant trees in different locations, different locations from our focus region, which is south and the southeast. So we plant, we monitor the development of the plants, and then we increase the planting area.
And so we've been intensifying these studies and finding new investment opportunities in the region. So Klabin has, you know, good intentions for the future, and we think that as much as possible, we will be able to translate all of that into numbers for you. But now referring to Santa Catarina, which is the object of your question, and we've been telling you a lot about that, we are quite advanced with Santa Catarina, certainly. I mean, given the major strategic decision to acquire Arauco areas, the Santa Catarina project is on hold for now. But we are already doing a lot of work on the forestry side. So we did our one-third of our objective has been reached in terms of forest expansion in Santa Catarina. And we have other intentions in the future. And the area coming from Arauco is very valuable with great agricultural potential.
And above all, I mean, just as a bank, and I do apologize for the analogy, as just as with banks that can operate with loans in different ways, I mean, we here also operate the land, and we look at several alternatives, and this is our comfort zone. So having land in that region that borders with the state of Santa Catarina, that opens many alternatives and opportunities. The most obvious one is the value of the land, which is an agricultural land of high volume. But these are also other alternatives that are in our radar.
Thank you, Cristiano.
Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, in case you have questions, please press star one. As there are no further questions, we now conclude the Q&A session. I would now like to turn the floor back to Mr.
Cristiano Teixeira for his final remarks. You may proceed, sir.
Thank you all very much. Before we close, I would just like to reinstate the main benefits of this acquisition I would like to share with you. These benefits are four pillars. First, the completion and optimization of the forestry expansion plan in Paraná. Number two, significant reduction in CapEx and significant operating gains. The third pillar is substantial value creation with an NPV of BRL 2 billion. Fourth pillar, maintenance of a solid financial position with robust liquidity and a long debt profile. These pillars increase Klabin's cost competitiveness and also reinforce the capital allocation and value creation for our shareholders. I would just like to pay a special thanks to our board members because they were very supportive throughout the process.
We were engaged in long-term debates that were very rich and created great value. I would also like to thank the executive board, and in particular, Marcos Ivo, Mariangela, our legal officer, and Sandro, because these three were paramount to the success of this endeavor. In particular, now I would like to thank all of our employees. There was a large period of changes. We changed behavior and consumers. We've seen that since the pandemic. We've been very quick to serve our more than 4,000 customers. Klabin has been very resilient throughout the process involving external changes, while at the same time, we seek for resilience in our cash costs. I would like to thank our employees because all of that makes us stronger, and we cannot be replicated. Certainly now, we have a much stronger company. Thank you very much. Happy holidays.
Klabin's conference call is now concluded. Thank you so much for joining us, and we wish you a very good day. You can disconnect your lines now.