RISI opens Latin American office in Brazil

BEDFORD, Mass., October 16, 2006 - RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced the opening of a new office in São Paulo, Brazil. The office will serve the demand for market information about Latin America's forest products industry and provide a platform for sales of RISI products into the increasingly important Latin American market.

The opening of the office follows RISI's inaugural Latin American Pulp and Paper Outlook Conference, held in Rio de Janeiro in May 2006. The event attracted more than 175 attendees from 104 different companies representing 16 countries around the world. The remarkable success of this two-day conference showcased the important position this region holds in the global forest products marketplace, notably its rapidly growing production and its ability to source fiber for paper production around the world.

Rod Young, RISI's CEO, commented, "Together, with our past and planned future conferences in the area, our new location in São Paulo sends a strong message that we are committed to the region, and will enable us to more easily leverage opportunities with customers in this vital market."

RISI currently produces a wide range of news and analytical products covering Latin American markets. These include PPI Latin America News, which provides twice-monthly industry news and prices; the twice-annual Latin American Pulp & Paper Forecast; and detailed mill cost benchmarking studies.

Keith Balter, Senior Vice President, Analytical and Editorial Products for RISI, commented, "Our new location in Brazil will support aggressive growth plans to deliver the intelligence our customers need to gain insight into the increasingly valuable Latin American market."

The new office can be found at Rua Helena, 275 cj 11, Vila Olimpia, 04552-050 - São Paulo - SP - Brasil and will be staffed by several new hires with hands-on experience with the Latin American market.

Renata Mercante, Editor of PPI Latin America News and the online Latin American pulp and paper news service, comes to RISI from ABTCP, the Brazilian pulp and paper technical association, where she covered the Latin American pulp and paper market for five years on O Papel magazine. She holds a degree in journalism and communications from the Casper Libero University in Sao Paulo, speaks fluent Portuguese, English and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of Italian and French.

Patricia Perez, Research Analyst in RISI's Pulp and Paper group, is responsible for gathering information and providing analysis on the South American pulp and paper industry. Patricia comes to RISI from the University of São Paulo where she earned her Bachelors degree and served as a market analyst for the pulp and paper industry at the Center for Advanced Studies on Applied Economics (CEPEA).

Greg Ardoullie, who has been an account manager at RISI for many years in the Brussels office, also recently joined the São Paulo team. Greg speaks fluent Portuguese, English and French and has extensive experience working with Latin American and European clients.

About RISI

RISI is the leading information provider for the global forest products industry. They work with clients in the pulp and paper, wood products, timber, tissue and nonwovens industries to help them make better decisions. Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, RISI operates offices in Brussels, Belgium; Atlanta, Georgia; San Francisco, California; Portland, Oregon; Sao Paulo, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Singapore; and Charlottesville, Virginia. For more information, visit www.risiinfo.com.