The last of Finland’s forest giants has exited Russia after Metsa Group joined UPM and Stora Enso yesterday to “sell out” of its substantial Russian-based assets.
Wood Central understands that asset sales – which include Metsa Svir LLC, Metsa Forest St Petersberg LLC, Metsa Forest Podporozhye LLC and Metsa Board Rus LLC – were transferred to Russian-owned VLP Group, who was a minority owner of the assets for 15 years from 2003.
According to the statement provided by Metsa Group, “In 2022, Metsa stopped its business operations in Russia, including the operations of the Svir sawmill, wood procurement and paperboard sales. As a result, Mesta Group does not hold any assets in Russia.”
Last year, Wood Central revealed that Finland was one of the countries hardest hit by Russian sanctions – with Finnish manufacturers in the southeast leaning on Russian fibre to produce high-volume paper and plywood products.
Until Putin invaded Ukraine in early 2022, Finland was among Russia’s top three imports for forest markets – leading UPM and Stora Enso to exit the Russian market in April 2023 and August 2023.
Across the border in Sweden, IngkaGroup, IKEA’s parent company, finally exited Russia after agreeing to sell 14 “Mega” shopping centres in October 2023.
When Meta Group suspended operations at Metsa Svir, the sawmill had a capacity of 280,000 cubic metres of saw timber and 150,000 cubic metres of wood chips. That decision squeezed forest resources not only in Finland but also across the wider European Union.
“You can send a thank-you note for that to the Kremlin. We have drifted into a situation where we have a significant shortage of wood, above all in southeast Finland,” says Dr Ali Harlin, a research professor at the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, adding that wood availability is one of the most critical challenges facing the country’s €33 billion industry.
On Monday, Duncan Mayes, who will present at Australia’s TimberConstruct later this year, said Finnish forest giants are using woody byproducts to create higher-value products with less fibre.
“In Finland and Sweden, there has always been a tradition of multi-sector integration, with the big forest companies having pulp mills, paper mills, board mills, sawmills and most recently mass timber plants combined in an industrial eco-systems,” he said.
This includes Metsa Group, which is developing the world’s most advanced bioproducts mill and is scheduled to open next year. The mill will use woody byproducts to produce bio-dispersant plasticisers for concrete and gypsum.
“Our goal is to efficiently use the side streams of pulp production and ensure they produce the greatest possible added value,” according to Ismo Nousiainen, CEO of Metsä Fibre, who announced the move in March. “We want to develop new products made from renewable natural resources that can replace fossil-based raw materials and products.”
- To learn more about how Finland is carving a new path post-Russian sanctions, click on Wood Central’s special feature from last year.
