Södra has agreed to sell its 25% interest in Sunpine, the world’s largest producer of Raw Tall Diesel, bringing a close to its 18‑year partnership, and comes as Sweden’s largest forest owner association looks to redirect capital and instead focus on delivering long-term value for its 50,000 member forest owners.
“Sunpine is now entering a new phase where our assessment is that another owner can better support the company taking the next step,” according to Lotta Lyrå, Södra’s President and CEO, who spoke of the decision to sell its share to VAROPreem yesterday. “Our objective of developing the tall oil market has been achieved, and this agreement allows us to concentrate our efforts where they create the greatest benefit for our members’ forests.”
The decision to divest its interests comes mere weeks after Södra agreed to sell more than 152,000 hectares of its Baltic forest holdings to Ingka Investments, the investment arm of Ingka Group, IKEA’s largest retailer, a move that it said will allow the collective to instead focus on members’ forests in Southern Sweden.
Last week, Södra reported a significant deterioration in its 2025 financial performance, with a 4% drop in operational revenue, rising raw material costs and unfavourable currency movements leading the Swedish forest giant to announce an operating loss of more than 1.29 billion kronor for the year.
