Richard Stralz, CEO of Mayr-Melnhof Holz Holding, Leoben © Mayr-Melnhof Holz
With the additional annual softwood lumber production of 840,000 m³, Mayr-Melnhof Holz rises from ninth to third place in Holzkurier’s European ranking. Overall, annual production now amounts to 2.9 million m³.
The Swedish company generated sales worth around €265 million a year. Together, they will reach the target defined in Mayr-Melnhof Holz’s strategy paper for 2022, i. e. €1 billion in sales, about which Stralz is very happy.
Higher sawmill league in Sweden
The Swedish company was established when two family dynasties, one of which has been in the sawmill business for over 100 years, joined forces. The Swedes claim to have “the lowest production costs”. Stralz agrees: “Those are three good sawmills with a long tradition. With the exception of a brief interlude in the past three years, the companies have always been owner-managed. I would also like to emphasize that the Bergkvist family still owns shares and will remain on board.”
Insiders estimate the cost of the takeover at €200 to € 250 million. Several Central European companies and at least one Canadian sawmill group made bids. With regard to this, Stralz cited the press release: “The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.”
On export markets with pine wood
Stralz knows that Bergkvist Siljan served the domestic Swedish market well. However, he sees the real benefit for Mayr-Melnhof Holz in exports. “We have a lot of potential for synergies in exports. On the one hand, the entire group will become more active in Scandinavia. Also, our Russian production site is not far away. And on the other hand, there is potential on the export markets that Bergkvist Siljan serves, that is East Asia, Western Europe and North Africa.” Mayr-Melnhof Holz also operates on those markets but “with complementary products, since we have a very small percentage of pine.”
€1 billion in annual sales was a business target that we will now reach in 2022 thanks to this deal.
Pellet production coming soon?
One of the first activities of the Styrian company in Sweden will probably be the recycling of sawmill by-products. “At the moment, they are either sold or burnt. Producing pellets would be a good addition,” Stralz explained.
According to the MM CEO, there is “plenty of space for expansion” at the new production sites. However, producing cross-laminated timber is not on the table at the moment. “Scandinavia already has a good CLT supply. Also, we are expanding in Leoben and could serve the north with the additional capacities.”
Best raw material plus container terminal
Bergkvist Siljan’s production sites are located in one of the best growing regions in Sweden. Stralz: “We get the highest quality and the raw material is definitely comparable to that from Russia. It’s an advantage that the average diameter of the log wood is bigger than that of the wood we cut in Efimovskij. The wood has a very fine grain.”
Part of the deal is a container terminal in Insjön. 40,000 TEU a year can be transported by train from the terminal directly to the port of Gothenburg. “This is an enormous competitive advantage,” Stralz said, referring to the very good logistics network.
Acquisitions and greenfield investments are still part of Mayr-Melnhof Holz roadbook. Accordingly, the US is still of interest for Stralz. “The US is always on our radar, simply because it’s such an important market. If there are opportunities there, we will examine them – but without a crowbar.”
