15 Mar 2024

The administration of Francisco Ruiz-Tagle, who has held the position of CEO since 2018, was recognized at the Fastmarkets Forest Products PPI Awards 2024 competition for the company’s accomplishments around sustainability, innovation and financial results. The Chilean executive was chosen out of eight CEOs of various companies worldwide in the pulp & paper sector. CMPC was also given another award for its leadership in sustainability, a category in which it surpassed five other standout industry companies.

Francisco Ruiz-Tagle, the chief executive of CMPC, was named International CEO of the Year in the Fastmarkets Forest Products PPI Awards 2024 competition, whose ceremony took place today in Istanbul, Türkiye. These awards are the only ones to exclusively recognize achievements in the paper and pulp industry at the global level. A Chilean has now joined the ranks of the winners for the first time. 

Ruiz-Tagle, who has been with the Chilean multinational for 30 years and serving as CEO since 2018, was awarded for his leadership and vision, which have contributed to several of the Company’s various accomplishments in terms of innovation, financial performance, and especially around social and environmental sustainability.

Ruiz-Tagle was selected from a group of eight finalists that included top executives from some of the largest companies in the forestry and paper sector, specifically Michael Doss of Graphic Packaging, Cristiano Cardoso Teixeira from Klabin, Sami Alsafran of the Middle East Paper Company, Michele Bianchi from the RDM Group; Sukanto Tanoto from RGE, Ulf Larsson of SCA, and Walter Schalka from Suzano.

This was not the only honor the company was given at the awards ceremony, as CMPC also won the “sustainability leadership” category, beating out Amcor, Klabin, the Middle East Paper Co. (MEPCO), Smurfit Kappa and Suzano. The recognition is given within the framework of the implementation of a business strategy for 2030 with five fundamental pillars, one of which is sustainability. The Company has set specific goals in environmental terms to be a global standard for the industry by leading the main ESG indicators and serving as a change agent for social development. 

“Thank you very much for these two tremendous accolades. I‘m quite pleased to receive these awards from Fastmarkets, such a reputable and well-known organization in our industry. I want to congratulate the rest of the nominees. It’s very clear to me that we’re in the presence of excellent, well-prepared executives,” said Ruiz-Tagle.

Likewise, he called for continued efforts to transform the forestry industry into a key player in building a more sustainable world, noting, “This is a special moment, not only for me, but for the entire CMPC team. We’ve been working on a new strategy for five years and sustainability and innovation are two of its key pillars. They are pillars that we’ve built as a team. This award also encourages us to continue growing and be even more committed to our industry. Many tasks lie ahead of us. "I’m certain that our industry is the best bet for decarbonizing the economy and our planet".