Resolute Forest Products – US Directory Price Increase Announcement

I am pleased with the result we were able to produce for the second quarter of 2024. We are back to net sales growth, our underlying profitability improved, both sequentially and versus the same period a year ago, and we delivered yet again a solid cash conversion for the quarter. Demand for our products improved during the quarter, partly due to supply and logistics disturbances within our industry that worked in our favor. This helps us in the short to medium term, but end consumer demand has not strengthened significantly over the past months. We remain cautiously optimistic going forward about gradually improved market conditions. We have adopted an agile mentality to adjust to fast-changing market conditions, which we consider to be the new normal.

In accordance with the terms of his service contract, UPM’s President and CEO Jussi Pesonen has announced that he will exercise his right to retire from UPM during 2024. "In 2024 I will have served UPM as President and CEO for 20 years and spent a total of 37 years with the company. The announced timetable aims to secure the success of the strategic growth initiatives as well as business performance over the coming few years. However, it is also time to start planning for the next stage,” says Jussi Pesonen. The schedule also allows UPM’s Board of Directors sufficient time for implementing the succession planning process.

Metsä Group has started a planning process with the City of Äänekoski with the aim of expanding the production of mechanical wood products at the Äänekoski mill site in the future. A detailed plan is being applied for as an industrial area for the Henttalanmäki area south of the existing mill site. The area currently has a general plan in force and it is mainly owned by Metsä Fibre, a part of Metsä Group. “One of Metsä Group's strategic targets is to increase the production of products that store carbon for a long time such as sawn timber, LVL and plywood. With the plan change that is now being launched, we are preparing to expand the production of our mechanical wood products at the Äänekoski mill site. The synergy benefits of operating in a large mill integrate are significant related e.g. to the utilization of raw materials, logistics and energy, ”says Ilkka Hämälä, President and CEO of Metsä Group.