Price levels for sawn timber products have been increasing slowly during the second quarter of 2012. At the same time, however, the construction market remains weak almost everywhere for Södra's products, not least in the Netherlands and Denmark, which are important to Southern Sweden. No improvement is expected until 2013 at the earliest.
Profitability remains weak as a consequence of depressed demand and overcapacity of timber construction products in Southern Sweden.
As a result, Södra Timber is reducing its production. The planned holiday downtime at its sawmills in Ramkvilla and Torsås will be extended as an initial measure. Sawmill production will stop on 4 June and resume on 27 August, extending the planned holiday shutdown by two months. Sawmill production at the sawmill in Långasjö will be reduced from a three-shift pattern to a two-shift pattern over the same period. All sawmills will remain open for deliveries throughout the summer.
The situation at Södra Timber's sawmills will be evaluated in May.
"We are monitoring market development closely. The sawmills have now seen a fairly long period of no profitability, and we have to create a balance between production and demand in order to place ourselves back in a reasonable situation," said Peter Nilsson, President of Södra Timber.
"We hope that these measures will improve the situation. But at the same time, we are not ruling out further action in the future," Nilsson added.