Moelven is facing one of the most difficult periods in its recent history, with losses across all three main divisions, three sawmill closures in little more than a year and growing pressure to concentrate production at its strongest operations in Norway and Sweden.<\/p>\n
The group generated sales of NOK 14.4 billion (\u20ac1.32 billion) in 2025 but recorded an operating loss of NOK 1.09 billion (\u20ac99.6 million). Net earnings were negative NOK 1.03 billion (\u20ac94.6 million), while operating earnings deteriorated by NOK 887 million (\u20ac81.3 million) from 2024. Timber posted an operating loss of NOK 429 million (\u20ac39.3 million), Wood lost NOK 204 million (\u20ac18.7 million) and Building Systems recorded a NOK 352 million (\u20ac32.3 million) deficit. In 2021, by comparison, Moelven generated almost NOK 3.0 billion (\u20ac274 million) in operating profit on a similar revenue base.<\/p>\n
Three sawmills removed from the network<\/strong><\/p>\n The deterioration has already translated into substantial capacity cuts. Moelven Notn\u00e4s Ransby in Sweden closed in May 2025, affecting 24 employees and 14 contractors, followed by L\u00f8ten in Norway. In September 2026, Moelven announced that \u00c5rj\u00e4ng would also close.<\/p>\n \u00c5rj\u00e4ng generated turnover of SEK 427 million (\u20ac37.6 million) in 2025 but recorded an operating loss of SEK 42.1 million (\u20ac3.7 million). Thirty-eight employees are affected. Together, the closures at Ransby, L\u00f8ten and \u00c5rj\u00e4ng remove around 250,000 m\u00b3 of annual softwood lumber capacity and an estimated 500,000 m\u00b3 of corresponding sawlog demand.<\/p>\n The restructuring leaves Moelven with a more concentrated Swedish sawmill network built around Val\u00e5sen, Edanes\u00e5gen, Notn\u00e4s and Dalatr\u00e4. The group has invested heavily in some of those sites. Val\u00e5sen received a new log intake, sawline, planing mill and kilns, while Edanes\u00e5gen has also been equipped with a new sawline and additional planing capacity. Group capital expenditure reached NOK 1.09 billion (\u20ac99.5 million) in 2023 and NOK 1.29 billion (\u20ac118 million) in 2024.<\/p>\n Log costs remain a major problem<\/strong><\/p>\n Raw material continues to squeeze margins. Moelven estimates that a 1% movement in timber prices changes operating earnings by around NOK 56 million (\u20ac5.1 million). Norwegian forest owners received an average of NOK 870\/m\u00b3 (\u20ac79.8\/m\u00b3) in 2025, around 25% more than a year earlier.<\/p>\n With approximately 4.1 million m\u00b3 of annual sawlog consumption, relatively small price movements can therefore have a substantial impact on the group.<\/p>\n But expensive logs do not explain everything. Comparable spruce sawlog prices in Austria, Germany and Finland have also reached high levels, while Central European producers have at times offered softwood lumber into continental markets \u20ac10-20\/m\u00b3 below Nordic suppliers. The question is increasingly not only how much a sawmill pays for its logs, but how much value it can extract from them before the finished product reaches the customer.<\/p>\n Moelven already has considerable further-processing capacity, including glulam production in T\u00f6reboda, plywood in Otterb\u00e4cken and a network producing planed products, flooring, panels and facade timber. Yet Wood still lost NOK 204 million (\u20ac18.7 million) in 2025 and Building Systems lost NOK 352 million (\u20ac32.3 million). Further processing alone has therefore not been enough to offset weak construction markets and high production costs.<\/p>\n Swedish assets could draw outside interest<\/strong><\/p>\n Moelven\u2019s remaining Swedish mills are nevertheless substantial industrial assets. Val\u00e5sen, Edanes\u00e5gen and Notn\u00e4s sit close to strong spruce-producing areas in V\u00e4rmland, Bergslagen and neighbouring regions, while recent investments have left parts of the production base considerably more modern than the mills being closed.<\/p>\n That combination could make the Swedish operations interesting to larger European wood groups if Moelven were ever to consider selective divestments.<\/p>\n There is no public evidence that such a sale process is underway, and no public source confirms negotiations with an Austrian buyer. The possibility should therefore be regarded as an industrial scenario rather than an existing transaction.<\/p>\n The Austrian angle is nevertheless not without precedent.<\/p>\n Austria\u2019s Mayr-Melnhof Holz entered Sweden through the acquisition of Bergkvist Siljan, completed in February 2022. The deal brought the Austrian group the Swedish sawmills at Insj\u00f6n, Mora and Blyberg and added around 850,000 m\u00b3 of annual softwood lumber production. Mayr-Melnhof said at the time that the acquisition represented its entry into Scandinavia and increased its lumber production capacity substantially.<\/p>\n More recently, Vienna-based HS Timber Group expanded into Sweden by acquiring Mal\u00e5 S\u00e5g from Setra. The transaction was completed in July 2026 and the plant now operates as Mal\u00e5 Timber. HS Timber described the acquisition as part of its expansion in Northern Europe and an addition of Nordic pine production to its portfolio.<\/p>\n Those transactions show that Austrian-owned industrial groups have already been prepared to acquire Swedish sawmill capacity when the assets fit their broader raw material and processing strategies. They do not indicate that either company is interested in Moelven, but they provide a clear precedent for cross-border Austrian investment in the Swedish sawmill sector.<\/p>\n Why Swedish spruce remains attractive<\/strong><\/p>\n The potential attraction is not simply installed capacity. Moelven\u2019s Swedish mills operate in regions known for high-quality spruce used in structural timber, joinery and applications where strength and appearance command a premium.<\/p>\n Central European producers have spent years developing business models around expensive raw material, combining large-scale sawmilling with grading, engineered timber, glulam and products sold further along the construction value chain. Swedish mills with modern equipment and access to consistent spruce therefore have strategic value beyond their immediate earnings during the present downturn.<\/p>\n The decline in salvage timber volumes in Central Europe also changes the longer-term raw material picture. Bark beetle-related logging that supplied huge amounts of inexpensive spruce during previous years has fallen sharply, while Russian timber remains absent from EU markets. If European construction strengthens again, sawmills with secure access to Nordic timber could become more strategically important.<\/p>\n Ransby suggests consolidation rather than exit<\/strong><\/p>\n Moelven\u2019s own actions still point more clearly towards consolidation than a broad sale of its Swedish business.<\/p>\n When Ransby closed, there were reportedly interested buyers, but Moelven chose not to sell the facility. The decision was linked to reducing regional sawlog demand and limiting upward pressure on timber prices. Allowing another producer to restart the mill would have brought much of that competition for logs back into the market.<\/p>\n That logic can also explain the latest capacity cuts. Closing Ransby, L\u00f8ten and \u00c5rj\u00e4ng allows Moelven to lower fixed costs and channel more logs towards the plants where it has already invested heavily.<\/p>\n The group therefore appears to be shrinking its production network rather than abandoning Sweden.<\/p>\n Ownership adds another layer of pressure<\/strong><\/p>\n Moelven is 66.8% owned by Glommen Mj\u00f8sen Skog and 32.8% by Viken Skog, with the remainder held by small shareholders. That ownership structure creates an unusual tension between timber prices and industrial profitability.<\/p>\n The forest owner organisations benefit when members receive high prices for logs, while those same prices increase costs at the sawmill group they own. Around half of Moelven\u2019s Norwegian timber needs are purchased in a market where the two owners themselves are major suppliers.<\/p>\n Both owners were heavily affected in 2025. Glommen Mj\u00f8sen reported a group loss of NOK 992 million (\u20ac91.0 million), while Viken Skog recorded a negative result of NOK 425 million (\u20ac39.0 million). Their parent companies remain relatively well capitalised, but exposure to Moelven is significant. Glommen Mj\u00f8sen carries its Moelven holding at NOK 1.23 billion (\u20ac112 million), equivalent to more than half of the parent company\u2019s equity.<\/p>\n Balance sheet pressure increases<\/strong><\/p>\n Moelven\u2019s equity ratio fell from 45.3% to 37.2% in 2025, below its own 40% target, while net interest-bearing debt increased to NOK 2.59 billion (\u20ac237 million).<\/p>\n Liquidity improved from NOK 879 million (\u20ac80.6 million) to NOK 1.17 billion (\u20ac107 million), but much of the improvement in operating cash flow came from the release of working capital rather than stronger underlying profitability.<\/p>\n The group also faces refinancing requirements in 2028, including NOK 1 billion (\u20ac91.7 million) in Norwegian credit facilities and SEK 1.4 billion (\u20ac123 million) in Swedish financing.<\/p>\n Continued losses would therefore increase pressure for deeper restructuring, additional capital or selective asset sales. An improvement in European construction and lumber margins, on the other hand, could allow Moelven to benefit from the modern production capacity it has retained.<\/p>\n Fewer mills, higher utilisation<\/strong><\/p>\n Management changes have accompanied the restructuring. Morten Kristiansen left the CEO position in May 2026 after almost twelve years, with Vera Flateb\u00f8 appointed permanent CEO in July. Changes have also taken place within Timber and at some of the major Swedish plants.<\/p>\n For now, the direction remains one of concentration. Moelven has removed three sawmills while retaining and modernising larger operations. That reduces fixed costs, cuts its raw material requirement and increases the potential utilisation of its strongest sites.<\/p>\n If construction markets recover, the group could enter the next cycle with a smaller but more efficient network. If the losses continue, however, the remaining Swedish mills could attract greater attention from larger European industrial groups.<\/p>\n Austria already provides two recent precedents. Mayr-Melnhof Holz used the acquisition of Bergkvist Siljan to establish a major Swedish sawmill position, while HS Timber Group entered the Swedish market through Mal\u00e5 S\u00e5g this year.<\/p>\n There is no evidence that either is preparing a move for Moelven. But Swedish sawmill assets have already proved capable of attracting Austrian capital, and Moelven now owns several modern plants in some of Scandinavia\u2019s most valuable timber regions.<\/p>\n Moelven is facing one of the most difficult periods in its recent history, with losses across all three main divisions, three sawmill closures in little more than a year and growing pressure to concentrate production at its strongest operations in … Continue reading \n\n
\n \nIndicator<\/th>\n Figure<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n 2025 sales<\/td>\n NOK 14.4bn (\u20ac1.32bn)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 2025 operating result<\/td>\n -NOK 1.09bn (-\u20ac99.6m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 2025 net result<\/td>\n -NOK 1.03bn (-\u20ac94.6m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Timber operating result<\/td>\n -NOK 429m (-\u20ac39.3m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Wood operating result<\/td>\n -NOK 204m (-\u20ac18.7m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Building Systems operating result<\/td>\n -NOK 352m (-\u20ac32.3m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Equity ratio<\/td>\n 37.2%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Net interest-bearing debt<\/td>\n NOK 2.59bn (\u20ac237m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Annual sawlog consumption<\/td>\n approx. 4.1m m\u00b3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \u00c5rj\u00e4ng 2025 turnover<\/td>\n SEK 427m (\u20ac37.6m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \u00c5rj\u00e4ng 2025 operating result<\/td>\n -SEK 42.1m (-\u20ac3.7m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Capacity removed at Ransby, L\u00f8ten and \u00c5rj\u00e4ng<\/td>\n approx. 250,000 m\u00b3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Corresponding sawlog demand removed<\/td>\n approx. 500,000 m\u00b3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Norwegian credit facility due 2028<\/td>\n NOK 1bn (\u20ac91.7m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Swedish financing due 2028<\/td>\n SEK 1.4bn (\u20ac123m)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"