Moelven has never seen a better first quarter than in 2021. In the course of the first three months of the year, Moelven saw sales of NOK 3,182 million and an operating profit of NOK 290 million.
This is an increase of NOK 220 million from the same period last year, while sales increased correspondingly by NOK 446 million. This is Moelven’s second strongest quarterly result ever, only beaten by the second quarter of the record year 2007.
High demand, strong international price developments and keen home carpenters are the explanation behind the best start of the year of all times for the Moelven group.
“Much has changed since the same time last year. At that point inventories were full, while now we are on the opposite end of the scale. The winter cold this year was less than optimal for our production, and now we are working hard to manage the high season we are currently in,” says Morten Kristiansen, CEO of Moelven Industrier.
International demand
The market for wood is international, and activity and demand on the world market therefore have an impact on prices. In the US more building is done using wood, and as a result of reduced harvests in Canada over time, more and more wood is sourced from Europe. This demand, combined with a refurbishment boom during the pandemic both internationally and in home markets, has led to positive price developments in several segments. As a consequence, raw material prices have also increased for Moelven.
The group’s companies in glulam, modules and office interiors are not experiencing as strong market developments as the timber segment, but they can boast of improvements in order backlogs.
“Moelven is currently doing very well, and we believe that the demand for wood products will remain at this level for the first half of the year. At the same time we are continuously working to improve profitability and the group’s structure. We have to do this in order to be able to cope with fluctuations in our industry,” Kristiansen says.
This week Moelven held its annual general meeting and corporate assembly. Here is the newly elected board of directors and corporate assembly.
The future is built with wood
Sustainability is crucial to our competitiveness. Therefore, we have set ambitious and concrete sustainability goals within four main areas. For one thing we can state for years to come: We will contribute to a sustainable future in wood.
Read more about our sustainability goals