The recession and a fall in pulp prices affected the results of Swedish forest industry group Södra – but it was still able to return profits of SKr0.5bn for 2001.
President and CEO Anders Wahrolén said the results of the sawmill operations were weak, largely because of falling prices during the first half of the year.
A number of measures to restructure and develop the company were implemented to improve the situation – and Södra hopes to reap the benefit of these during 2002.
Actions included the appointment of a new president and three new sawmill managers; a new marketing strategy and sales and marketing organisation; the development of a new product range programme.
Södra Timber’s sawmills in Mönsteras, Kisda, Värö, Lenhovda, Traryd and Unnefors produced 852,000m³ compared with 778,000m³ the previous year. Much of the rise was the result of increased capacity utilisation at the Mönsteras mill.
The sawmills’ demand for saw logs was high throughout the year, particularly for spruce. Weak profitability within the sawmill industry resulted in a 5% reduction in saw log prices during the spring.
Södra Skog‘s timber procurement and deliveries increased to 12.7 million m³ from 12.3 million m³.
Södra has 34,092 forest owners, who together own more more than two million ha.
