In its financial report for the year ended 31 December 2012, the group said that weakened demand for coated paper would lead to a decrease in price and delivery volumes in Q1 2013.
And despite an anticipated increase in delivery volumes of uncoated paper, liner and FBB, Metsä said that it expected prices for all three products to remain stable over the coming months.
Looking back over the past 12 months, the group’s paperboard division showed the benefits of recent restructuring and increasing liner and folding boxboard sales, which led to a 25% increase in operating profit excluding exceptional items to €74m (2011: €59m).
Total folding boxboard production capacity is set at 935,000 tonnes per annum from the start of 2013, a 150,000 tonne yearly increase.
Despite being the manufacturer’s second biggest earner after pulp, sales at the division decreased to €2.1bn from €2.5bn in 2011/12 following the sale of 7.3% of its stake in Mëtsa Fibre to Itochu Corporation, which led to an €85m exceptional gain.
A decrease in pulp and office paper prices restricted the operating profit within the paper business, and Metsä Group predicts that delivery volumes for those products will remain on par with Q4 2012 at the start of 2013.
Overall, Metsä Group recorded an operating profit of €252m, excluding non-recurring items, on sales of €5bn, down from €314m profit on a €5.3bn turnover in 2011.
Non-recurring items boosted operating profit for paper by €146m, contributed from sales transactions and divestments of shares. Most notable was its €85m gain from selling 7.3% of its shares in Metsä Fibre to Japanese company Itochu Corporation in April.
Metsä Group’s subsidiary, Metsä Fibre - which it now has a 24.9% stakehold in since April's sale - made €1.3bn in sales throughout 2012, reaching a production volume of 2.3bn tonnes.
Metsä Group president and chief executive Kari Jordan said: "Our result for 2012 was satisfactory considering the market conditions. Our operating results excluding non-recurring items improved steadily quarter after quarter.
"The most significant events during the year included launching the new corporate identity, deepening the pulp partnership with the Japanese company Itochu and the completion of the strategic review of the paper business in the spring. These are important milestones for the Group’s future.
Since the close of the 2012 financial year, Metsä Group has sold its French Alizay mill to Conseil Générale l’Eure for €22m. The buyer intends to sell the property and production assets of the mill to other operators.
Pulp production at the mill was permanently closed in 2010 and paper production terminated two years later, as Metsä Group set its sights on transforming itself into a profitable paperboard company from a paper producer.
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