New investments by Swedish timber industry in Latvian forests

On 8 April, 2019 the Swedish timber and paper company SCA closed the acquisition of 10.000 hectares forest and land assets in Latvia for a total of 26,2 million EUR. The assets comprise 7.600 hectares of productive forest, 2.000 hectares of farmland and 800 hectares of other land. The standing timber volume amounts to one million cubic metres. SCA owns 2,6 million ha of forest in Sweden in addtion to several timber industry facilities.

SCA has been an active timber buyer in the Baltics for several years but is now following the recent move by other Swedish timber industries to become owners of forest in Latvia. At the end of 2018 another Swedish timber industry Company, Södra, acquired a total of 110.000 ha in Latvia for a price of 324 million EUR (see HD Forest news from 19 November, 2018).

Jonas Mårtensson of SCA states that "The Baltic states are a natural part of the base for our raw material supply and our operations there are strengthened by a forest asset of our own. We may well consider more acquisitions of forest land in the Baltics."