Despite achieving a turnover in excess of €10bn, each of Stora Enso’s group operations – packaging, biomaterials, timber and paper – recorded lower year-on-year sales. Wood products achieved sales of €374m, a 6% drop on last year mainly down to lower sawn timber prices.
Major operational developments for 2019 included the shutdown of the Kitee sawmill in Finland, the divestment of its sawn construction timber (KVH) mill at Pfarrkirchen in Germany and the transfer of the Uimaharju sawmill, to the Biomaterials division. Stora Enso was selected as the provider of wooden materials for 544 building projects around the world, using 45,000m3 cross laminated timber (CLT) and 300m3 laminated veneer lumber (LVL)
“As sustainability is at the core of our business, we take further steps to promote wooden buildings. We have launched a new building concept that makes it easier for architects, engineers and developers to design office buildings from wood.” Said Annica Bresky, president and CEO.
“We are engaged in a number of new wooden building projects, this quarter in Austria, Belgium, France, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Building in wood can bring up to 70% faster construction time, up to 80% fewer truck deliveries on site as well as cut carbon emissions by up to 75%, just to mention some of the benefits.”
Looking towards 2020 the report stated that exceptionally mild winter conditions in the Nordics with reduced period of frozen soil could impact harvesting and transport of wood and may therefore affect the stability of raw material supply and potentially increase wood costs to our Nordic mills.
“When it comes to the business climate in the Nordics, I would like to raise a word of caution. For the forestry industry, like for any other industry, we need predictability.” Added Ms Bresky.
“Therefore, it is problematic when society is impacted by strikes, which has been the case around the new year. It is utterly important for our countries in this region of the world, to secure the competitive position of exporting industries and ensure that we are well equipped to compete globally.”
