S\u00f6dra\u2019s sawn timber business lost SEK 256 million (EUR 23.0 million) in the third quarter of 2026, more than twice its loss a year earlier, as lower selling prices and deliveries coincided with rising raw-material costs.<\/p>\n
The deterioration at S\u00f6dra Wood contrasted with a recovery in pulp earnings and a return to reported profit for the Swedish forest-owner association. A gain from selling its Sunpine holding, however, accounted for more than the group\u2019s entire quarterly operating profit.<\/p>\n
Results released on October 22 put S\u00f6dra\u2019s operating profit at SEK 267 million (EUR 24.0 million), compared with a SEK 360 million loss a year earlier. Excluding the SEK 288 million Sunpine disposal gain, the group remained slightly loss-making, with an operating loss of SEK 21 million.<\/p>\n
Net sales rose by 2% to SEK 6.49 billion (EUR 584.2 million). Higher pulp deliveries, better prices for energy products and lower overheads helped improve earnings, but the gap between raw-material costs and finished-product prices continued to hurt the industrial businesses.<\/p>\n
Sawmills face pressure on both costs and selling prices<\/strong><\/p>\n S\u00f6dra Wood\u2019s quarterly loss increased by SEK 153 million from the SEK 103 million recorded in July\u2013September 2025. The company attributed the decline to three factors: lower delivery volumes, weaker market prices and higher raw-material costs.<\/p>\n The combination leaves limited room for sawmills to improve returns through sales alone. S\u00f6dra was receiving less for its products while paying more for the wood needed to produce them, and lower deliveries further reduced revenue.<\/p>\n Demand remained weak in the UK and the United States, two of its major markets. Conditions were more stable in the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden, but that was insufficient to prevent a deeper divisional loss.<\/p>\n Chief executive Lotta Lyr\u00e5 identified sawn timber as a particular concern, saying profitability remained below the level the company needed despite progress elsewhere in the group.<\/p>\n Construction weakness also continued to affect cross-laminated timber. S\u00f6dra Building Systems nevertheless reduced its operating loss to SEK 37 million (EUR 3.3 million), from SEK 51 million a year earlier. Higher deliveries helped, although increased raw-material costs absorbed part of the benefit.<\/p>\n The company reported greater export activity in Building Systems. That improvement should be distinguished from S\u00f6dra Wood, where the divisional earnings commentary explicitly cited lower deliveries.<\/p>\n Pulp delivers the largest improvement<\/strong><\/p>\n S\u00f6dra Cell returned to an operating profit of SEK 380 million (EUR 34.2 million), against a SEK 80 million loss in the third quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n Higher delivery volumes, reduced overheads and a weaker Swedish krona against the US dollar supported the recovery. The improvement did not mean that pulp markets had fully recovered: S\u00f6dra said global supply continued to exceed demand, putting pressure on paper-pulp prices, while demand for paper and board remained weak in several markets.<\/p>\n The distinction is significant for the quarterly figures. S\u00f6dra Cell improved its earnings through deliveries, costs and currency movements despite difficult selling conditions. S\u00f6dra Wood faced falling prices alongside higher input costs.<\/p>\n S\u00f6dra Skog also reported a weaker result. Its operating loss widened to SEK 75 million (EUR 6.7 million), from SEK 32 million, as lower margins and reduced deliveries cut revenue.<\/p>\n Cost reductions support the group result<\/strong><\/p>\n S\u00f6dra reduced overheads by SEK 200 million (EUR 18.0 million) compared with the third quarter of 2025, a reduction of approximately 15%. It also reported SEK 181 million in efficiency measures and improvements implemented during the quarter.<\/p>\n Energy and bioproducts provided additional support. S\u00f6dra Bioproducts\u2019 sales increased to SEK 916 million from SEK 674 million, principally because of strong demand for tall oil and electricity. Its earnings are included within \u201cOther business areas,\u201d rather than disclosed as a separate divisional result.<\/p>\n The company also began small-scale lignin pilot production, while its tannin facility at V\u00e4r\u00f6 entered commissioning and started production. These projects are intended to develop additional uses for forest raw material, alongside the established pulp, timber and energy businesses.<\/p>\n For the sawmills, the immediate problem remains the relationship between log costs and sawn timber prices. Group cost reductions and stronger pulp earnings improved S\u00f6dra\u2019s quarterly accounts, but Wood\u2019s loss shows that those gains have not yet translated into a recovery across its industrial operations.<\/p>\n Third-quarter operating result. SEK million (EUR million)<\/p>\n \n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" S\u00f6dra\u2019s sawn timber business lost SEK 256 million (EUR 23.0 million) in the third quarter of 2026, more than twice its loss a year earlier, as lower selling prices and deliveries coincided with rising raw-material costs.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":100395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100394","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nS\u00f6dra: pulp improves, sawmills lose more<\/h5>\n
\n\n
\n \nBusiness<\/th>\n 2025<\/th>\n 2026<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n \n Wood<\/th>\n \u2212103 (\u22129.3)<\/td>\n \u2212256 (\u221223.0)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Cell<\/th>\n \u221280 (\u22127.2)<\/td>\n 380 (34.2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Skog<\/th>\n \u221232 (\u22122.9)<\/td>\n \u221275 (\u22126.7)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Building Systems<\/th>\n \u221251 (\u22124.6)<\/td>\n \u221237 (\u22123.3)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Group, reported<\/th>\n \u2212360 (\u221232.4)<\/td>\n 267 (24.0)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n <\/th>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n