Metsä Group: Turnover decline in wood sector continues

The former Metsäliitto, which was renamed at the beginning of 2012 as the Metsä Group, again showed declines in turnover and results for its wood activities in the first quarter of 2012. Quarterly turnover in the Wood Products Industry division, which now trades as Metsä Wood, showed a year-on-year downturn of 7% to €222m and the operating result decreased to €4m. The downward trend of the previous quarter has therefore continued. The company reports that it was the extended period of winter weather that had primarily had a negative effect on the business trend. According to Metsä, the delayed seasonal start in the shuttering industry had a detrimental effect on plywood business in many markets, so that that sector had also seen a decline in sales. Demand for lumber ranges for use in building construction remained weak on account of the weather. In its quarterly report, the group continues to rate the business trend in the lumber sector as unsatisfactory.