Metsä Group releases first-half 2025 results

Metsä Group released its half-year financial report for January–June 2025, posting a weaker performance due to global trade uncertainty, declining pulp demand, and rising wood raw material costs. The company reported first-half sales of €3.07 billion, with an operating result of €6 million and a comparable operating result of €44 million. Net cash flow from operations totaled €10 million.

In the second quarter, Metsä Group’s sales were €1.43 billion, with an operating result of €-46 million and a comparable operating result of €-37 million. Pulp deliveries dropped by more than 30% from the previous quarter, driven by weak demand in both Europe and Asia. Paperboard deliveries decreased slightly, with stable average prices, but U.S. import tariffs created uncertainty that dampened customer orders.

“Metsä Group’s result in the second quarter of 2025 was clearly negative,” said President and CEO Jussi Vanhanen. “This was mainly due to the increased uncertainty in world trade. The US administration first raised tariffs on Chinese imports and later on nearly all other countries’ imports. Metsä Group’s customers reacted as any rational company would: cautiously.”

 

Vanhanen highlighted that declining consumer confidence in Europe and the U.S., combined with high wood costs, weighed heavily on profitability. While pulp demand in Asia recovered slightly toward the end of the quarter, U.S. paperboard customers reduced volumes amid the evolving tariff situation.

After the review period, the company began planning a cost savings and profit improvement program targeting annual savings of approximately €300 million, to be gradually implemented starting in 2026. The initiative will focus on procurement and logistics, optimization of the wood supply chain, and reducing fixed costs, without any planned production closures.

“Metsä Group’s current profitability level is unsustainable and does not enable new growth investments,” Vanhanen said. “We cannot just wait for a potential improvement in economic cycles but must instead focus on improving profitability.”

The company expects its comparable operating result for July–September 2025 to be weaker than in the second quarter.