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Forest industry struggles as major producers report weaker Q3 results

Forest industry struggles as major producers report weaker Q3 results

Finland's forest industry remains under pressure as leading producers posted weaker third-quarter earnings, underscoring sluggish demand, low prices, and continued market uncertainty, reported Xinhua. Stora Enso said Thursday its July-September operating profit dropped 28 percent year-on-year to 126 million euros, down from 175 million euros in 2024. Net sales edged up slightly to 2.28 billion euros from 2.26 billion a year earlier. For the first nine months of 2025, sales rose to 7.1 billion euros from 6.7 billion, while operating profit fell to 427 million euros from 478 million. The company described market conditions as "subdued and challenging," citing weak consumer confidence and geopolitical tensions. It warned that tariffs pose both risks and opportunities but remain a drag on global trade and sentiment. Demand is expected to stay weak across most segments, with low pulp prices, sluggish construction activity, and high log costs in Central Europe constraining performance. Only Stora Enso's forest segment continues to show resilience despite elevated fiber costs. Metsa Group also reported a difficult quarter, swinging to a 72-million-euro loss from a 113-million-euro profit a year earlier. Quarterly sales rose modestly to 1.44 billion euros from 1.34 billion. The company said market uncertainty has clouded short-term visibility, especially in paperboard and pulp, and suspended near-term forecasts. U.S. tariffs hit its paperboard unit hard, with orders only slightly recovering after a sharp drop last spring. Once a pillar of Finland's economy, the forestry sector faces prolonged weakness amid global demand stagnation, rising costs, and structural shifts. While near-term prospects remain dim, Pellervo Economic Research Institute expects gradual stabilization, forecasting around 3 percent annual export growth in 2025-2026 led by timber. However, paper and plywood exports are seen flat, with high domestic wood prices continuing to squeeze margins.

Birth rate remains lower than death in Finland in Jan-Sep

Birth rate remains lower than death in Finland in Jan-Sep

The number of births was 9,361 lower than that of deaths in Finland in January-September period, according to Statistics Finland. Country's population was 5,653,269 at the end of September 2025. The number of births was 34,444 and the number of deaths was 43,805 in the first nine months of this year. During January-September period, the population, however, increased by 17,298 persons. The reason for the population increase was migration gain from abroad. The number of immigrants was 26,612 higher than that of emigrants. There were 38,133 immigrants and 11,521 emigrants in January-September 2025.

Govt moves to ease rules on terminating workers

Govt moves to ease rules on terminating workers

The four-party alliance government led by the Kansallinen Kokoomus (National Coalition Party-NCP) on Thursday submitted a proposal to Parliament to amend the provisions of the Employment Contracts Act and the Seafarers Employment Contracts Act concerning dismissals based on individual employee-related grounds, said an official press release. The proposed amendment will make it easier for employers to terminate employees, which was strongly criticised by the trade unions. According to the proposal, employers would be able terminate an employment contract where a proper reason exists, said the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment in a press release. To determine whether proper reasons for dismissal exist, comprehensive consideration would still be used as a basis for assessment. “Our aim is to remove barriers to employment and encourage recruitment. This is an important change for small businesses, which find the legal risks associated with dismissals to be significant barriers to hiring staff. We want to remove barriers to employment for companies so that as many people as possible can find work,” said Minister of Employment Matias Marttinen in the press release. At present, an employer can terminate a contract of indefinite duration for proper and weighty reasons related to the employee. Under the Government proposal, the grounds for terminating an employment contract would be met if a proper reason exists. A proper reason could at least be deemed to exist in situations where an employee breaches or neglects obligations affecting the employment relationship or an employees capacity to perform work has changed so significantly that they can no longer manage their duties. In practice, the neglect of obligations could include failure to comply with the employers instructions, neglecting work, absences for no valid reason, inappropriate conduct or carelessness in performing work. Not every instance of reproachable behaviour or inadequate performance would constitute sufficient grounds for dismissal. The existence of sufficient grounds would continue to be determined on the basis of a comprehensive consideration of the circumstances of both the employer and the employee. As is the case a present, the employer should also take into account other obligations that apply to both employers and employees and the prohibited grounds for dismissal. Termination of employment on arbitrary or minor grounds would still not be permitted. An employee could not be dismissed without first being given a warning and the opportunity to amend their conduct. Exceptions, however, would apply in cases of serious misconduct where the employer could not reasonably be expected to continue the employment relationship. At present, an employer must investigate whether the employee could be reassigned to other duties before dismissal. In future, the employers obligation to reassign the employee would apply only in cases where the employees capacity to work has changed during the employment relationship. This would apply, for example, if the employees ability to work had deteriorated due to illness, injury or occupational accident. The government proposed that the amended legislation will enter into force on January 1, 2026. Meanwhile, the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (SAK) and Service Union United (Palvelualojen ammattiliitto-PAM) strongly criticised the government move saying that the proposed amendments will weaken employee protection and throw employees into an unequal position. Leaders of the organisations in separate statements said on Thursday that the proposed legal amendment aimed at easing the termination process of individual employees will spell the hardest consequences for those sectors where the workforces are mostly made of women. PAM Chair Annika Rönni-Sällinen said, it is strange that the protection of employees is being weakened at the same time when the unemployment benefits were cut and the conditions for social assistance are being tightened.