The strategic partnership agreement between UPM and Versowood, announced in September 2025, has received all required regulatory approvals and enters into force on December 31, 2025, according to UPM.
Under the agreement, UPM receives pulpwood and sawmill by-products from Versowood to support wood supply for its pulp mills in Finland. UPM supplies logs sourced through its own wood procurement operations to Versowood’s sawmills as part of the same agreement.
UPM’s Korkeakoski sawmill has transferred to Versowood’s ownership under the finalized transaction. UPM has received a minority shareholding in Versowood following the completion of the transfer.
The sawmill transfer reduces UPM’s exposure to European sawmilling, where low construction activity continues to limit demand, and supports UPM’s long-term financial position through reduced capital allocation to sawmilling operations.
The agreement is finalized during a prolonged downturn in the Nordic forestry sector, where forest raw material supply remains structurally undersupplied. The structural undersupply is linked to import sanctions on Russian timber, political pressure, regulatory constraints, and uncertainty that has limited harvesting activity in the Nordic region. The shortage has resulted in record wood prices despite weak industrial demand in the forestry industry.
