Ahlstrom-Munksjö’s net sales in the second quarter of 2020 decreased by 16.6% to €621.5 million ($729 million) compared to the second quarter of 2019. This was mainly due to lower delivery volumes. In addition, average selling prices decreased, which was partly due to a less favorable product mix. The impact of the pandemic on customer activity varied. Deliveries increased in the health care and life science end-use segments, while they were relatively stable in the consumer goods end-use segments. Deliveries decreased clearly in the home building and furniture, transportation, and industrial end uses.

The decline in net sales in the Filtration & Performance Solutions business area was mainly driven by lower delivery volumes, particularly in the Filtration business. The divestment of the glass fiber reinforcement and fine arts businesses had an impact of about €11 million ($12.9 million) on net sales.

The company reported that demand decreased in filtration materials for transportation applications, while it remained more stable in industrial applications. Demand for abrasives, plasterboard, flooring and wallcoverings weakened particularly in Q2. At the same time, Ahlstrom-Munksjö reported continued good demand for hygiene-related nonwoven materials.

Hans Sohlström, president and CEO, comments: “Within our broad product range of advanced fiber-based solutions, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on customer activity has varied. Demand remained strong in the healthcare and life science end-use segments, while it remained relatively stable in the consumer goods segment, albeit with some variation depending on end use. The biggest decline was in the home building and furniture, transportation and industrial end-use segments. All in all, the exceptional market environment led to a 10% reduction in our deliveries, which was the main driver behind the decrease in net sales and comparable EBITDA. However, we worked hard on our own actions to reduce variable and fixed costs, and this cushioned the impact of lower volumes.

“I’m also pleased that we were able to drive our business forward during the pandemic. Our in-depth knowledge of fiber-based materials, agile organization and common manufacturing platform enabled us to expand our manufacturing capabilities of face mask fabrics globally to lines normally used for the production of other fiber-based materials. We also took further steps in supplying the electric vehicle battery market by introducing a platform of fiber- based energy storage applications solutions. Our other new value- added solutions include a replaceable filter media for branded outdoor apparel used as face masks.”