Mets\u00e4 Group said on Thursday it has launched change negotiations as part of a cost savings programme that could lead to the loss of up to 800 jobs, including around 540 in Finland, with the entire wood procurement unit affected.<\/p>\n
The programme targets procurement and logistics costs, as well as streamlining the wood supply chain from forest to mill, which accounts for a major part of the planned savings. The company also aims to reorganise operations to cut fixed costs.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur employees have done a good job within the framework of our current operating model. Unfortunately, in this situation, that is not enough, but we must adjust our operations to ensure long-term competitiveness,\u201d CEO Jussi Vanhanen said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Wood procurement in focus<\/strong><\/p>\n Mets\u00e4 Group\u2019s Forest Director Juha Jumppanen told forestry journal Mets\u00e4lehti that the change negotiations cover the entire wood procurement organisation, which employs more than 600 people in Finland.<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot speculate further on the need for reductions at this stage. The personnel have done a good job, but in the current profitability situation, changes are forced to be made. These are not the best of days,\u201d Jumppanen said.<\/p>\n He stressed, however, that the reductions will not affect timber purchases or day-to-day cooperation with the company\u2019s 90,000 forest-owner members. \u201cWe will also continue to purchase wood as normal,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Job reductions across Finland<\/strong><\/p>\n In Finland, potential job cuts would be spread across several sites, including Espoo (140), \u00c4\u00e4nekoski (70), Kemi (60), Simpele (40), Lappeenranta and Joutseno (35), and other locations (190).<\/p>\n Mets\u00e4 Board, a subsidiary, said it may cut up to 315 jobs, including 155 in Finland. It also suspended preliminary planning of two investment projects \u2013 the renewal of the drying machine at its Husum pulp mill and a barrier board development project at its Kyro mill \u2013 citing insufficient profitability under current market conditions.<\/p>\n Strong balance sheet<\/strong><\/p>\n Jumppanen said forest owners should not be overly concerned despite profitability pressures, noting the group\u2019s strong finances. \u201cThe equity ratios of Mets\u00e4liitto Cooperative and Mets\u00e4 Group are very good. The cooperative has almost 90 percent and the group has 57 percent (Q2\/25). Mets\u00e4liitto Cooperative has no external debt at all.\u201d<\/p>\n Mets\u00e4 Group, whose parent Mets\u00e4liitto Cooperative is owned by some 90,000 Finnish forest owners, employs about 9,600 people worldwide.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mets\u00e4 Group said on Thursday it has launched change negotiations as part of a cost savings programme that could lead to the loss of up to 800 jobs, including around 540 in Finland, with the entire wood procurement unit affected. … Continue reading