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Forestry giant Copec's profit dips as revenue beats forecasts
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Forestry giant Copec's profit dips as revenue beats forecasts
Aug 14, 2025 4:32 PM

Aug 14 (Reuters) - Chilean industrial conglomerate

Empresas Copec on Thursday posted an 21% drop in

second-quarter profit although revenue surpassed expectations,

as the forestry giant faces falling pulp prices and impacts from

the U.S.-China trade war.

Net profit for the three months ended June hit $228 million

- in line with forecasts of analysts polled by LSEG - from

revenue that edged down 1% to $7.18 billion.

However, revenue for Copec, which owns a large forestry

business as well as fuel distribution, mining and fishing

operations, landed ahead of analysts' $6.84 billion estimate.

Copec attributed the decline in sales largely to lower

prices for pulp - a raw material used in a range of products

such as paper, packaging and some textiles - though it partially

offset this by selling off larger volumes.

Copec said China faced an oversupply of pulp even though

domestic consumption and demand remained strong, while in

Europe, an oversupply had combined with a lower use of "almost

all grades of paper", causing some paper mills to shut down.

"The dissolving pulp market has been affected by the trade

war between the United States, China, and other Asian

textile-producing countries," it added.

Copec said its forestry subsidiary Arauco sold nearly 8%

more pulp compared to the same quarter last year, but prices

were down more than 12%.

Arauco contributes the bulk of earnings for Copec, which

last year counted over 9,360 square km (3,614 square miles) of

land planted mainly with eucalyptus and pine forests across

Brazil and South America's Southern Cone - an area larger than

the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico.

Washington has slapped a 50% tariff on goods from Brazil,

but excluded some major exports, including various types of wood

pulp, sawn wood and paper products.

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