A prolongation of the coronavirus pandemic may cause disruptions in Metsä Board’s production and supply chains. On the other hand, the accommodative monetary policy during the pandemic, combined with the positive economic impacts of the recovery from the pandemic, may lead to overheating of the economy. The unwinding of the situation may have sudden nega-tive effects on the world economy and thereby on the demand for Metsä Board’s products and the company’s profitability. In addition, customers’ weaker cash position or slower payment behaviour may have an impact on Metsä Board’s cash flow and lead to credit losses.
A weakening in the availability of global freight capacity may result in additional costs or restrict paperboard and pulp deliveries altogether, thereby having a negative effect on the company’s profitability.
There are also other considerable uncertainties in the global economy. If realised, they may result in weakened demand and reduced prices for paperboard and pulp products. An imbalance in supply and demand may impact the prices of end products and Metsä Board’s profitability.
Various countries have imposed import duties and other trade restrictions on each other’s products, but these have not had a direct impact on Metsä Board’s business operations so far. Negative developments in world trade could, if continued, weaken Metsä Board’s profitability.
There are several geopolitical risk concentrations around the world, and forecasting developments in them is difficult. Changes in these areas may be very sudden and unpredictable. There have been, and will continue to be, international sanctions related to these crises, and they may also have a direct or indirect impact on the demand for paperboards and, therefore, on Metsä Board’s profitability.
Metsä Board is focusing on the active development and growth of its paperboard business. The growth of the paperboard business and the introduction of new products to the markets depend on the success of sales. Increasing sales on a global scale also involves cost and exchange rate risks. In addition, the acceptability and taxation of various packaging materials involve regulatory risks.
A majority of Metsä Board’s production is located in Finland. Finland has a history of labour disputes in both the forest industry and the distribution chain of forest industry products. These may have a negative impact on production volumes and customer deliveries, and weaken the company’s competitiveness and profitability.
Wood accounts for more than a quarter of Metsä Board’s total costs. The availability of the wood raw material becoming more difficult or a sudden increase in prices would have a weakening effect on Metsä Board’s result.
Metsä Board’s climate risks mainly concern forests and the use of energy and water. Regulation may steer the future use of forests. Increased regulation aiming to mitigate climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions may, furthermore, increase costs and result in substantial change requirements applicable to pro-duction technology. The supply and demand of products in a low-carbon economy may differ from the current situation. Climate change may cause an increasing number of extreme weather phenomena, such as storms, floods and drought, and weaken the availability of the process water and electricity required by mills and result in breaks in production. Extreme weather condi-tions may also limit the availability of the wood raw material. Should they materialise, climate risks could have a negative impact on Metsä Board’s profitability.
Changes in the market price of pulp have a significant impact on Metsä Board’s profitability. The company’s annual total pulp position shows a surplus of roughly 400,000 tonnes, taking into account the minority owner-ship of the Husum pulp mill. A 10% decline (increase) in the price of market pulp would have an approximately EUR 30 million negative (positive) impact on the com-pany’s annual operating result.
The US dollar strengthening by 10% against the euro would have a positive impact of approximately EUR 75 million on Metsä Board’s annual operating result. Correspondingly, the Swedish krona strengthening by 10% would have a negative impact of approximately EUR 45 million. The British pound strengthening by 10% would have a positive impact of approximately EUR 9 million. The impact of weakened exchange rates would be the opposite. The sensitivities do not include the impact of hedging.
The forward-looking estimates and statements in this half-year financial report are based on current plans and estimates. For this reason, they contain risks and other uncertainties that may cause the results to differ from the statements concerning them. In the short term, Metsä Board’s result will be particularly affected by the price of and demand for finished products, raw material costs, the price of energy, and the exchange rate devel-opment of the euro compared to the company’s other main currencies.
