In April–June 2021, Suominen’s net sales decreased by 7% from the comparison period to €113.6 million ($133.3 million). Sales volumes decreased from the very high level of Q2/2020, but sales prices increased following higher raw material prices. The impact of currencies on net sales was €-6.5 million ($-7.6 million).

Suominen’s business areas are Americas and Europe. The net sales of the Americas business area were €67.4 million ($79.1 million) and of the Europe business area €46.3 million ($54.3 million).

As announced on Aug. 12, 2021, Suominen expects that its comparable EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) in 2021 will decrease from 2020 due to the slowdown in the demand for nonwovens in the second half of 2021 as well as some continuing volatility in the raw material and transportation markets. In 2020, Suominen’s comparable EBITDA was €60.9 million ($71.5 million).

Going forward Suominen is in a strong position both strategically and financially, according to Petri Helsky, president & CEO. “The global market expectation is that in the long run the end user demand for wipes will remain above pre-Covid levels,” he says. “In Europe we see that the EU Single-Use Plastics Directive (SUPD) will benefit Suominen as we are well placed to respond to the growing demand for innovative and sustainable nonwovens with our pioneering fiber-based nonwovens know-how and spunlace technology.”

However, Helsky mentioned, towards the end of the second quarter, North American customers especially started to experience a sudden deceleration of demand, which in combination with extraordinary stockpiling throughout the entire supply chain has created an imbalance of inventories. “This has impacted also Suominen’s orders, although in several cases we have been able to benefit from our position as the preferred supplier of our customers. We expect that the demand for our products will recover once this temporary imbalance is cleared. Our current view is that the recovery will start in the fourth quarter,” he says.

In Europe, he adds, another specific factor impacting demand has been the earlier uncertainty regarding the final formulation of the SUPD that postponed the company’s customers’ development projects and now that the formulation is clear, Suominen’s orders have been affected as converters and retailers seek to sell out their existing stocks.