Nelson Ferreira

Nelson Ferreira is a senior partner that has been with McKinsey since 2000, working in the São Paulo Office. He leads agribusiness practice in Latam and is one of the Global leaders in Agriculture (including Biofuels) and Basic Materials in McKinsey.

Nelson has led large-scale transformations for major players in fertilizers, sugar-ethanol, seeds, and agricultural retail across Latin America and the U.S. His experience includes driving operational and procurement excellence, supply chain optimization, advanced analytics in logistics, and digitization efforts for clients in the chemicals and agriculture sectors. He has supported 2G ethanol strategy development and other disruptive technologies for investment funds, led go-to-market strategies, and helped redefine portfolios and growth plans for some of the region’s largest fertilizer and commodities companies. Nelson has also authored McKinsey’s internal papers and proprietary models focused on land use optimization and financial modeling. His projects span marketing and sales, corporate strategy, and performance improvement.

Nelson holds an MBA from Kellogg Graduate School of Management, with majors in finance and strategy, and a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from University of São Paulo.

Nelson is a native speaker of Portuguese, fluent in English and Spanish, good conversational abilities in German and Italian.