The case of Aracruz is similar to other companies - it first announced in September of
2008 that it had heavy losses due to currency derivatives and, in October 3rd, announced total losses of U$1.95 billion, later amended to U$2.1 billion. In the meantime, the stock plunged from an average of R$12 throughout 2008 to less than R$1.5 later in October. In November 2008 Brazilian stockholders sued Aracruz‟s former CFO, while some American stockholders (the company is traded in the US market through American Depositary Receipts – ADRs) joined in a class action against the Board.
In 2008, Aracruz Celulose was the biggest world producer of bleached eucalyptus pulp, with 26% of the world market, market capitalization of U$7.1 billion (July 8th, 2008) and net revenue of U$1.42 billion. Aracruz was a single product manufacturer, with steady growth in terms of revenue, output capacity and profits throughout the 1999-2007 period. It also had a „BBB‟ flat rating by Moody‟s, S&P and Fitch, possessing investment grade since November of 2005. It was self-sufficient in wood with a total of 593,000 hectares, self-sufficient in electricity, and had a private port terminal which shipped 85% of its total output. It also had three production sites with an annual capacity of 3.3 million tons (ARACRUZ, 2008). It was also the only company in the celluloses sector to be part of the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. More than 95% of the company‟s revenue came from exports. Table 3 presents the main competitors of Aracruz in the world market