Finland\u2019s largest sawmill operator posted a surprisingly strong financial performance in the fiscal year ending in June, showing that sawmilling can still be profitable even as the glulam business struggled.<\/p>\n
Versowood, the country\u2019s biggest sawmill company, reported revenue growth of nearly 17% to \u20ac564 million, while operating profit jumped to \u20ac34.5 million from \u20ac8.9 million a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Although earnings during the pandemic years were much higher, the latest results were solid even by normal standards. CEO Ville Kopra described the financial year as both successful and surprisingly strong, considering the weak cycle in housing construction.<\/p>\n
Sawmilling was the key driver, with both revenue and profitability improving.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood demand, especially in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, supported an increase in average prices,\u201d Kopra said.<\/p>\n
Sawmill output rose by 10% to 1.43 million cubic meters of lumber, while wood procurement reached 3.84 million cubic meters.<\/p>\n
The main difficulties were in glulam, where demand in the primary market of Japan was weak. Production at glulam factories was restricted, and the business remained loss-making.<\/p>\n
Kopra sees the current autumn as uncertain and more difficult than the same period last year, but expects building activity to pick up in the spring as it does seasonally.<\/p>\n
Industry pressures and restructuring<\/strong><\/p>\n Like other sawmills, the company has been building up stocks of chips and sawdust. Pulp mill shutdowns have created a surplus of chips, pushing down pulpwood prices. At the same time, the pile-up of sawdust is further straining already weak demand for energy wood at the start of the heating season.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, UPM is selling its plywood business, which has an overlapping procurement area. Oversized logs from sawmilling operations typically go into plywood production, while the largest logs are directed to pulp. UPM\u2019s plywood business has annual revenue of about \u20ac450 million, almost on par with Versowood.<\/p>\n Asked about potential acquisitions, Kopra said he does not know the plywood business well but noted that \u201csomething is always in the works.\u201d<\/p>\n Versowood revenue breakdown:<\/strong><\/p>\n Sawmilling: 46%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n By-products (sawdust, bark, chips): 14%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Glulam: 10%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Wood packaging (reels and pallets): 9%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Processed wood products: 5%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Energy (pellets): 6%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Other: 10%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97049,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5204,5812],"tags":[3766,3383,3653],"class_list":["post-97048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news","category-global-trends","tag-financial-results","tag-sawmill","tag-versowood","topic-forestry","topic-lumber","topic-sawmilling","topic-wood-products","area-europe","area-global"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n