Stora Enso, one of the world’s leading providers of renewable wood-based materials, has launched a strategic review of its Central European sawmills and building solutions operations. The assessment, scheduled for 2026, will focus on one business unit within the Wood Products division and includes:
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Seven sawmills in Austria, Czechia, Poland, and Lithuania
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Three cross-laminated timber (CLT) mills
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Wood procurement activities
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International sales and distribution operations
The move comes as Stora Enso sharpens its strategic focus on renewable materials and packaging, areas where the company sees the strongest long-term growth potential. While the Central European business holds a solid market position, it does not offer meaningful operational or strategic synergies with Stora Enso’s core packaging portfolio.
Potential Scenarios: Including Possible Divestment
As part of the review, Stora Enso will analyse several pathways for the future of the business, including a potential divestment of some or all assets within the scope. The company’s sawmills in Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia—which do create synergies with the company’s core operations—are excluded from the review and will remain strategically important.
A Major Player in Global Wood Products
Stora Enso is Europe’s largest sawn wood producer and a global pioneer in sustainable building solutions, including the production of advanced CLT elements used in low-carbon construction.
The seven sawmills included in the review collectively produce around 3 million m³ of sawn wood annually and supply a wide portfolio of sawn timber and mass-timber components. This business area represents roughly 50% of the Wood Products segment’s total sales.
Over recent years, Stora Enso has invested heavily in modern, low-carbon building technologies, expanding its offering with new concepts, services, and engineered wood systems designed to support the transition toward climate-friendly construction.
Operations Continue as Normal
Stora Enso will provide an update on the review in 2026. Until then, all sawmills and processing units in the scope will continue operating as usual, maintaining their commitment to delivering high-quality and competitive products to customers across Europe and beyond.
About Stora Enso
Stora Enso is a global leader in renewable materials, operating across numerous markets and communities worldwide. The company’s purpose—“Do good for people and the planet. Replace non-renewable materials with renewable products.”—reflects its belief that virtually anything made from fossil-based materials today can be replaced with renewable alternatives tomorrow.
Its wood-fibre-based products store carbon, reduce reliance on fossil resources, and can substitute materials such as plastic, glass, steel, concrete and fossil fuels. As the world faces increasing pressure from climate change, urbanisation and growing resource demand, Stora Enso sees sustainably managed forests and wood-based materials as essential to building a circular, low-carbon bioeconomy.
