José Rafael is President of Forestal del Sur S. A., a company involved in the woodchip export business from Chile and Uruguay, in the plantation of eucalyptus and the trade of pulp logs and saw logs. He has been working in the forestry industry for 46 years.

In 1978 he joined Forestal Arauco where he worked until 1986, year in which he started up Forestal del Sur, for supplying fiber to Japan, China and Scandinavian countries. In 1990 he started up Forestal Los Lagos, a plantation company located in the south of Chile, of which he is a board member, and in the year 2005, together with Mr. Peter Lyford-Pike in Uruguay, he started up Forestal Atlántico Sur, which exports woodchips and pulp logs to European countries and purchases land and plants eucalyptus in Uruguay for an International Fund. In Forestal Atlántico Sur he is Managing Partner.

He is Past Chairman of the Chilean Forestry Association, CORMA (Corporación para la Madera).

He is a Civil Engineer, graduate of the Universidad Católica de Chile and a Master in Science in Management of Stanford University.