Finnish pulp engineering and paper mill technology group Valmet expects growth to stall as economic uncertainty leads customers to postpone investment decisions. The company reports declining new orders and forecasts that sales this year will remain roughly in line with 2025 levels.
Over the past year, the value of new orders fell by just over ten per cent compared with the previous year. The trend weakened toward the end of the year, and in the fourth quarter incoming orders dropped to nearly half the level recorded in the same period a year earlier.
Comparisons are also complicated by an exceptionally large order secured at the end of 2024.
Record order distorts comparisons
In September 2024, Valmet received its largest order ever when Chilean forestry group Arauco ordered a pulp mill in Brazil worth more than one billion euros. The facility is being built in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul and is expected to be completed next year.
Overall, Valmet’s revenue, earnings and order backlog all declined slightly over the past year, although the company still secured several strategically important projects.
– Orders in October–December were at a lower level than a year earlier due to an exceptionally strong comparison period, but we won strategically important projects, such as our largest energy order ever to Berlin, said CEO Thomas Hinnerskov in a statement.
Valmet has delivered more than 700 board machines and 900 paper machines to customers worldwide.
Investment caution weighs on outlook
Valmet operates in two main segments: equipment and solutions for the pulp and paper industry, and valves and related components for sectors including oil and gas. Valves are a key product area, and last summer the company signed a cooperation agreement with Brazil’s state-controlled energy company Petrobras.
In December 2025, Valmet also acquired industrial valve manufacturer Severn from a UK private equity owner for 410 million euros.
For the year ahead, the company expects a more stable market for its process industry solutions. However, in biomaterials and related services, economic uncertainty is expected to continue weighing on investment decisions, and the company sees the market remaining soft in the coming quarters.
– In this situation, we expect 2026 net sales to remain at the 2025 level and comparable EBITA to remain at the same level or increase, Hinnerskov said.
Shares lag the broader market
Valmet’s share price has underperformed the broader Helsinki market index. Over the past year, the stock has risen about 15 per cent, compared with roughly 30 per cent for the benchmark index.
Immediately after the earnings release, Valmet’s share price fell by around six per cent.
Source: Yle.
