Swedish wood products company Setra has reported an operating profit of SEK 480 million or EUR 46 million (Q1/2021: SEK 177 million or EUR 17 million) for the first quarter of 2022. Net sales totalled SEK 1,834 million or EUR 176 million (Q1/2021: SEK 1,184 million or EUR 113 million).
Setra is reporting a boost in earnings of SEK 303 million (EUR 29 million) in Q1 2022 compared with the same period last year. This increase was largely due to high selling prices as a result of strong market development.
“The healthy demand and robust price levels we have seen in the first quarter look like they’re continuing in Q2,” says Setra’s CEO Katarina Levin.
Setra’s future looks positive over both the short and long term. There are, however, some dark clouds on the horizon, concerning the security situation in Europe, the global economy after the pandemic and political oppositions to the sustainable forest management practices that we are used to in Sweden. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is affecting the global wood products market and entails sharply rising costs and turbulence in the logistics area, but it is too early to draw any far-reaching conclusions about the impact of the conflict on Setra’s business.
The strategic investment project for greater efficiency in primary production is continuing as planned, as is work on the application for a new operational permit for Kastet sawmill, covering a production volume of 700,000 m3 (currently 390,000 m3).
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