To increase transparency, Stora Enso, Sweden, announced plans to establish a forest division, beginning in 2020. The new forest division will include Stora Enso’s Swedish forest assets (including the recently-acquired Bergvik Skog Väst AB) and its 41% share of Tornator, with the majority of its forest assets located in Finland.

The forest division also includes wood supply operations in Finland, Sweden, Russia and Baltic countries. Tree plantations in the southern hemisphere linked to local pulp mills continue to report under the biomaterials and consumer board divisions.

“As a major player in the bio-economy, access to wood is critical for us. Taking forest assets under direct ownership gives us more flexibility to optimize our wood supply and operations,” says Karl-Henrik Sundström, chief executive officer. “Furthermore, as wood is the single most important raw material and the biggest share of our costs as well as a large part of the balance sheet, it will make sense to increase the transparency of reporting now, when we have successfully finalized the acquisition of Swedish forest holdings.”