Fire on grounds of Port Alberni mill extinguished; wind-blown embers caused spot fires

UPM has signed an agreement to sell 100% of the shares of its Austrian subsidiary UPM Kymmene-Austria GmbH to the HEINZEL GROUP, a leading pulp, packaging and paper producer and trader in Central and Eastern Europe. The transaction comprises the UPM Steyrermühl site with approx. 400 employees, including the newsprint paper machine with an annual capacity of 320,000 tonnes and the Steyrermühl sawmill operations with an annual timber capacity of 370,000 cubic meters. The parties have agreed not to disclose the value of the deal. Closing of the transaction and end of newsprint production at UPM Steyrermühl are planned for the end of 2023. HEINZEL is planning to take over responsibility for the mill after closing. Until then, all operations continue as is. HEINZEL plans to operate the UPM Steyrermühl site outside of graphic papers as an integrate together with its Laakirchen mill, which is located in the same communicaty. HEINZEL is considering the production of packaging materials to complement their existing product portfolio.

Mercer International Inc. reported third quarter 2021 Operating EBITDA increased to a record $148.1 million from $45.6 million in the third quarter of 2020 and from $83.8 million in the second quarter of 2021. In the third quarter of 2021, net income was $69.1 million (or $1.05 per basic share and $1.04 per diluted share) compared to $7.5 million (or $0.11 per share) in the third quarter of 2020 and $21.4 million (or $0.32 per share) in the second quarter of 2021. In the first nine months of 2021, Operating EBITDA increased to $313.9 million from $143.1 million in the same period of 2020. In the first nine months of 2021, net income was $96.5 million (or $1.46 per share) compared to a net loss of $4.3 million (or $0.06 per share) in the same period of 2020.

As part of its forest land optimisation, Stora Enso has signed an agreement to divest forest assets located in southern Sweden to the forestry fund Silvestica Green Forest AB. The total area of forest land in the transaction is approximately 5 200 hectares. The selling price is approximately SEK 940 million (EUR 90 million). The transaction is in line with Stora Enso’s policy of divesting non-core assets. The forest areas are located geographically far away from Stora Enso’s other forest lands, which limits the scale benefits. The forest land divestment has no impact on Stora Enso’s nearby Hylte Mill, which uses other wood supply sources for its production. The forest land corresponds to less than 0.5% of Stora Enso’s total forest land area in Sweden.