Translation: Original published in Finnish on 16/1/2025 at 07:12 am EET

Koskisen held a call with analysts yesterday ahead of the Q4 silent period. Koskisen published the key themes of the questions and answers in a press release yesterday, which can be read here.  The company’s business environment seems to have developed fairly steadily, which was quite well in line with our expectations.

Stable overall picture in Q4 compared with Q3

We did not find any major surprises in the tone of the company's messages in relation to the Q3 report and the comments made in connection with it, either in terms of the demand or pricing situation in the two businesses or in terms of the level of costs. In the construction-driven businesses (the entire Sawmill Industry and a significant part of the Panel Industry), there is no sign of a pick-up in demand. On the other hand, the situation is no longer deteriorating, either in terms of demand or pricing. However, a slight relief for the Panel Industry was that Koskisen has not so far laid off or planned to lay off personnel in Q1 at its birch plywood mill, although the company negotiated the possibility of layoffs in Q4 due to weakened order flows at the end of Q3. This indicates that the order flows have remained at least tolerable.

The ramp-up of the new sawmill line in Järvelä seems to have progressed, and production volumes and efficiencies have improved compared to the beginning of the year, although efficiency can still be tuned further.   In the wood market, the upward trend in prices has come to a halt, but the price level is high. In addition, the delay in the purchase and use of wood means that wood costs are likely to rise again. In terms of other cost components, the company did not flag significant change pressures.

Koskisen will publish its Q4 report on Monday, February 17, 2025.