Transition of the Forest Industry Firms to Biorefinery in Brazil: Diversity of Paths and Triggers

The declining demand of printing and writing papers, breakthroughs in R&D and sustainability issues are promoting a global transition from the chemical pulp industry into more broad-based biorefinery operations. In Brazil, this transition is happening at a slower pace than in the leading countries, but a preparation for it is already observed in several forest industry firms. The purpose of this paper is to analyze this transition in Brazil through case studies of the three biggest Brazilian forest industry firms complemented with in-depth interviews with industry specialists. The contribution of this research is threefold. First, it describes the different initiatives of the firms and their current position at different stages of the innovation pipeline. The conclusion of this analysis proposes an inductive process model for the Brazilian transition. Second, it identifies the following conditioning mechanisms related to the transition process: the firm structure, its absorptive capacity, the strategic alliances and the governmental policy. Lastly, it concludes by identifying some reasons why the transition in Brazil is in a less developed stage compared to more developed countries and gives some suggestions of how Brazil may overcome this challenge by orchestrating the National System of Innovation with an integrated strategy.