UPM Plywood division reports sales decrease

The business includes the WISA brand and veneer products for construction, vehicle flooring, LNG shipbuilding, parquet manufacturing and other industrial applications.

The division’s sales in Q1, 2023 were €118m, down from €164m a year ago. Operating profits were €12m (Q1, 2022: €-20m). Plywood deliveries for the period were 117,000m3 (Q1, 2022: 198,000m3).

Sales prices continued to rise in some end uses, with demand in birch-related end-uses reportedly strong. Demand in spruce plywood and veneer was weak and temporary lay-offs were made to adjust operations to the market demand.

In Q1, UPM completed withdrawal of its business from Russia by selling all its Russian operations, including UPM Chudovo plywood mill. 

UPM’s €10m investment in the development of the plywood mill in Joensuu, Finland will be completed by the end of 2023. This includes two new production lines, new workspaces and 720m2 of new production space. 

“Right now, we are in the process of transferring production from the old lines to the new ones, and during April, the first customers will receive WISA-Trans and WISA-Wire vehicle flooring panels made on the new lines,” explained production manager Antti Pitkänen.