The price of oil and gas is at a level where, if this continues for longer, say through the entire winter, the market will phase out Europe’s small gas-fired plants. The price of pulp rises along with energy; in Finland, the forest industry uses very little gas. When the price of hardwood pulp approaches that of softwood pulp, orders will shift back to the higher-quality softwood pulp. In the future, profits will be made more from energy, but also from pulp. Time will tell, but UPM is in a league of its own and will remain so.
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