COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENT LIABILITIES

ENVIRONMENTAL AND LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

The Company is subject to environmental and legal proceedings in the countries in which we operate. Accruals for contingent liabilities, such as environmental remediation costs, are recorded in the consolidated financial statements when it is probable that a liability has been incurred or an asset impaired and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. The Company has estimated some probable liability associated with environmental remediation matters that is immaterial in the aggregate as of December 31, 2024.

At the Company’s Mogi Guaçu mill, there are legacy basin areas that were formerly lagoons used for treatment of mill wastewater from pulp and paper manufacturing. In coordination with and in response to a request by the Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (“CETESB”), which is the state environmental regulatory authority, there has been continuous regulatory monitoring and sampling of the former basins, which began prior to their closure in 2006, both to assess for contamination and evaluate whether additional remediation is needed beyond the basins’ ongoing natural vegetation growth. This monitoring and sampling detected metal contamination, with the main constituent of potential environmental impact being mercury. The Company presented CETESB with proposals for studies and other actions to further assess the scope and type of contamination and the possible need for an additional remediation approach.

In October 2022, CETESB requested that the Company expand its efforts to include providing CETESB with a proposed pilot intervention (remediation) plan for a portion of the former basins. The purpose of the pilot intervention plan was to facilitate determination of the appropriate actions to take for the basins generally, guided by the results of the pilot intervention plan in the subset portion of the basins. The Company submitted a proposed pilot intervention plan to CETESB in late 2023, and CETESB approved its pre-intervention stages and certain additional measures that the Company later submitted. The requirement to conduct the pilot intervention plan is currently suspended, as agreed by CETESB. The Company continues to conduct environmental testing and analysis. The Company anticipates discussing the results of its supplemental testing and analysis with CETESB in the first half of 2025.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company has recorded an immaterial liability for the ongoing and additional environmental testing and analysis and a third-party review of the results and risk. While this matter could in the future have a material impact on our results of operations and cash flows, the Company is unable to estimate its potential liability. The Company’s liability will depend upon what additional studies and what remediation, beyond vegetation of the basins, may be required by CETESB, which in turn will depend partly upon CETESB’s assessment of information from the Company’s environmental testing and analysis and the third-party review of the results and risk.

TAXES OTHER THAN PAYROLL TAXES

See Note 12 Income Taxes for a discussion of a goodwill amortization tax matter in Brazil.

During the first quarter of 2024, the State of Sao Paulo issued a tax assessment to our Brazilian subsidiary for approximately $41 million (adjusted for variation in currency exchange rates) regarding unpaid VAT arising from intercompany transactions. This assessment includes $17 million in tax and $24 million in interest and penalties. As of December 31, 2024, no reserve has been recorded by the Company because the risk of loss is not probable.

We have other open tax matters awaiting resolution in Brazil, which are at various stages of review in various administrative and judicial proceedings. We routinely assess these tax matters for materiality and probability of loss or gain, and appropriate amounts have been recorded in our financial statements for any open items where the risk of loss is deemed probable. We currently do not consider any of these other tax matters to be material individually. However, it is reasonably possible that settlement of any of these matters concurrently could result in a material loss or that over time a matter could become material, for example, if interest were accruing on the amount at issue for a significant period of time. Also, future exchange rate fluctuations could be unfavorable to the U.S. dollar and significant enough to cause an open matter to become material. The expected timing for resolution of these open matters ranges from one year to 10 years.

GENERAL

The Company is involved in various other inquiries, administrative proceedings and litigation relating to environmental and safety matters, taxes (including VAT), personal injury, product liability, labor and employment, contracts, sales of property and other matters, some of which allege substantial monetary damages. Assessments of lawsuits and claims can involve a series of complex judgments about future events, can rely heavily on estimates and assumptions, and are otherwise subject to significant uncertainties. As a result, there can be no certainty that the Company will not ultimately incur charges in excess of presently recorded liabilities. The Company believes that loss contingencies arising from pending matters, including the matters described herein, will not have a material effect on the consolidated financial position or liquidity of the Company. However, in light of the inherent uncertainties involved in pending or threatened legal matters, some of which are beyond the Company's control, and the large or indeterminate damages sought in some of these matters, a future adverse ruling, settlement, unfavorable development, or increase in accruals with respect to these matters, could result in future charges that could be material to the Company's results of operations or cash flows in any particular reporting period.