Mercer International\u2019s shares have come under renewed pressure following the release of the company\u2019s first-quarter 2026 results, with the stock now trading below the US$1 level on Nasdaq.<\/p>\n
The company reported a net loss of US$52.0 million for the first quarter of 2026, compared with a net loss of US$22.3 million in the same period last year. Operating EBITDA fell to US$7.8 million, down from US$47.1 million a year earlier. The result included a US$22.0 million non-cash inventory impairment, reflecting weak pulp prices and high fibre costs.<\/p>\n
Mercer is a global forest products group with operations in Germany, Canada and the United States. Its business is built around two main segments: pulp and solid wood. The pulp segment includes four pulp mills, while the solid wood segment includes the Friesau sawmill, the Torgau facility and the company\u2019s mass timber facilities in North America.<\/p>\n
Europe, and especially Germany, is central to Mercer\u2019s industrial footprint. In Germany, the group operates Mercer Rosenthal and Mercer Stendal in pulp, as well as major solid wood operations through Mercer Timber Products in Friesau and Mercer Torgau. Mercer also operates Mercer Holz, its German wood purchasing organisation, and Mercer Logistik, linking raw material procurement with its German mills and wood-processing assets.<\/p>\n
The German solid wood operations are important because they connect sawmilling, pallets, bioenergy and by-products with Mercer\u2019s wider fibre platform. Mercer Timber Products in Friesau is one of the largest softwood sawmills in Germany; the facility was acquired from Klausner in 2017 and had a roundwood processing capacity of around 2.2 million m\u00b3, producing around 1.3 million m\u00b3 of sawnwood with planer capacity of 0.8 million m\u00b3. Mercer Torgau, acquired in 2022, expanded the group\u2019s German solid wood business further, particularly in pallets and related wood products.<\/p>\n
Mercer\u2019s Q1 weakness was visible in both pulp and solid wood. Total revenue fell to US$489.3 million, compared with US$507.0 million in the first quarter of 2025. In pulp, production was relatively stable, but reduced production at the German mills due to fibre supply constraints offset the benefit of lower maintenance downtime. Overall fibre costs increased by around 22% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
The solid wood segment also remained under pressure. Segment Operating EBITDA was negative US$5.6 million, compared with negative US$0.3 million a year earlier. Solid wood revenue increased to US$131.7 million, but lumber revenue declined by around 8% to US$60.1 million, mainly due to lower sales volumes. Mercer said average lumber sales realizations increased by around 7% to US$536\/Mfbm, but fibre costs for lumber production were up around 36% year-on-year.<\/p>\n
Alongside the quarterly results, Mercer confirmed that it had secured an extended waiver for its German revolving credit facility. The waiver is intended to address covenant compliance and provide additional financial flexibility while the company works through weak markets, high input costs and liquidity pressure.<\/p>\n
The German facility has become an important focus for investors. Market filings show the waiver relates to a \u20ac370.1 million revolving credit facility involving certain German subsidiaries of Mercer and a group of lenders led by UniCredit Bank GmbH as agent.<\/p>\n
The stock weakness adds another layer of pressure. Mercer shares have recently traded below the US$1 level on Nasdaq. Under Nasdaq rules, a minimum bid price issue generally arises if a company\u2019s shares remain below US$1 for 30 consecutive business days, after which the company can receive a compliance period to regain the required minimum bid.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98810,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4713,5204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-companies-in-the-timber-industry","category-daily-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n