Mercer International Inc. Reports Second Quarter and First Half 2022 Results

Mercer International Inc. reported second quarter 2022 Operating EBITDA increased to a $145.1 million from $83.8 million in the second quarter of 2021 and decreased from $154.5 million in the first quarter of 2022.

In the second quarter of 2022, net income was $71.4 million (or $1.08 per basic share and $1.07 per diluted share) compared to $21.4 million (or $0.32 per share) in the second quarter of 2021 and net income of $88.9 million (or $1.35 per basic share and $1.34 per diluted share) in the first quarter of 2022.

In the first half of 2022, Operating EBITDA increased by 81% to $299.5 million from $165.8 million in the same period of 2021. In the first half of 2022, net income was $160.3 million (or $2.43 per basic share and $2.41 per diluted share) compared to $27.3 million (or $0.41 per share) in the same period of 2021.

Mr. Juan Carlos Bueno, the Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Our strong second quarter operating results were driven by increased pulp and lumber pricing, continued strong energy pricing and our Stendal mill’s reversal of it’s wastewater fee accrual. These positive effects were offset by higher planned maintenance costs, higher costs for key inputs including fiber, energy and chemicals, and lower pulp sales volumes. We continue to see cost inflation for certain inputs, including energy costs. However, we see our surplus energy sales as a strong hedge against higher energy prices and we are focused on developing strategies to manage the cost of our key inputs.

When comparing our second quarter pulp results to the first quarter, our second quarter was negatively impacted by higher planned maintenance costs, lower pulp sales volumes and higher per unit fiber costs. During the quarter our mills were down for planned maintenance a total of 43 days compared to none in the first quarter and our Celgar mill was down an additional six days due to a slower than plan startup. As expected, our fiber costs were up quarter over quarter, but we are currently expecting that these costs will be flat in the third quarter with a modest increase in Germany and a modest decrease in Canada.

In July 2022 our Stendal mill had a fire in its woodyard which did not damage the mill’s operations. We have now restarted the mill and are ramping up its production. We have implemented a work around chip in-feed process which is designed to let the mill operate at about 80% of capacity. We expect the planning and installation of replacement equipment will take several months.

Our Friesau sawmill continued its strong performance in the second quarter achieving record operating income. The mill’s improvement relative to first quarter was primarily due to improved lumber pricing in Europe and strong pricing in the U.S., which were partially offset by higher fiber prices. In the second quarter of 2022, our solid wood segment generated operating income of $45.9 million.

Pulp supply demand fundamentals remained strong throughout the second quarter and resulted in price improvements in all of our markets. Low customer inventory levels and limited pulp supply were the main drivers in market tightness. As of June 30, 2022, third party industry quoted NBSK list prices were approximately $1,485 per ADMT in Europe and net prices were approximately $1,008 per ADMT in China.

Global logistics challenges are slowly easing but continue to impact our business primarily in the form of irregular North American rail traffic, which forces us to use additional higher cost trucking. We are seeing the railways making slow progress in unwinding their system backlogs and expect that these logistics issues will continue to improve going forward.

As we move into the third quarter, we expect stable pulp prices as a result of low customer inventory levels and supply constraints. We expect lumber prices in the United States to be generally stable and prices in Europe to decline from the second quarter but remain at historically attractive levels in both markets. Further, we expect continued strong energy demand and prices in Germany in the third quarter of 2022.

Currently our 2022 capital expenditures are on track to total approximately $175 million to $200 million. The majority of these investments are designed to deliver high returns, help us achieve our ESG objectives and enhance shareholder value. I am also pleased to announce that our Board has approved an incremental $27 million investment at our Spokane mass timber facility. This investment will allow this state-of-the-art facility to fully utilize a more varied raw material mix and increase finger joint lumber production. We expect this investment will become a stepping stone to additional modest investments to increase cross-laminated timber (“CLT”) and glue laminated beam capacity as our order book grows. We are excited about the potential of this business given CLT’s lower carbon footprint and faster construction characteristics compared to traditional construction materials like concrete and steel. Over time, as we continue to ramp up this business, I believe our CLT business will become a key component in our solid wood business.”

Consolidated – Three Months Ended June 30, 2022 Compared to Three Months Ended June 30, 2021

Total revenues in the second quarter of 2022 increased by approximately 42% to $572.3 million from $401.8 million in the same quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher pulp sales volumes and higher pulp, energy and lumber sales realizations.

In the second quarter of 2022, our energy and chemical revenues increased to $47.8 million from $16.9 million in the same quarter of 2021 primarily as a result of higher energy prices in Germany, which were double those in the same quarter of 2021.

Costs and expenses in the second quarter of 2022 increased by approximately 31% to $458.3 million from $350.0 million in the second quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher pulp sales volumes and driven by inflationary pressure on our key production costs such as fiber, energy and chemicals and also freight costs. Such cost increases were partially offset by the positive impact of a stronger dollar on our euro and Canadian dollar denominated costs and expenses.

In the second quarter of 2022, Operating EBITDA increased by approximately 73% to $145.1 million from $83.8 million in the same quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher sales realizations and pulp sales volumes and the positive impact of a stronger dollar partially offset by higher per unit fiber and other production costs.

Segment Results

Pulp

In the second quarter of 2022, pulp segment operating income increased to $75.5 million from $13.3 million in the same quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher sales realizations and sales volumes and the positive impact of a stronger dollar, partially offset by higher per unit fiber costs and other production costs.

Pulp revenues in the second quarter of 2022 increased by approximately 41% to $418.6 million from $297.2 million in the same quarter of 2021 due to both higher sales volumes and sales realizations.

Energy and chemical revenues increased to a record $41.7 million in the second quarter of 2022 from $13.1 million in the same quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher sales realizations. During the second quarter of 2022, we benefitted from strong energy demand and higher energy prices in Germany.

In the second quarter of 2022, third party industry quoted average list prices for NBSK pulp increased from the same quarter of 2021 primarily as a result of low customer inventory levels. Our average NBSK pulp sales realizations increased by approximately 7% to $890 per ADMT in the second quarter of 2022 from approximately $830 per ADMT in the same quarter of 2021.

Costs and expenses in the second quarter of 2022 increased by approximately 30% to $384.8 million from $297.0 million in the second quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher pulp sales volumes, per unit fiber costs and energy, chemical and freight costs. The higher costs were partially offset by the positive impact of a stronger dollar and in the second quarter of 2022, we received German regulatory approval to reverse a wastewater fee accrual of $13.3 million as a result of completing certain capital projects.

In the second quarter of 2022 per unit fiber costs increased by approximately 32% from the same quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher per unit fiber costs for our German mills as a result of higher demand from other wood consumers such as heating pellet manufacturers. For our Canadian mills, per unit fiber costs were flat as demand remained strong in the mills’ fiber baskets. We currently expect per unit fiber costs to be flat in the third quarter of 2022 with a modest increase in Germany and a modest decrease in Canada.

Wood Products

In the second quarter of 2022, our wood products segment operating income increased approximately 9% to a record $45.9 million from $42.3 million in the same quarter of 2021 primarily due to higher sales realizations partially offset by higher per unit fiber costs.

Average lumber sales realizations increased by approximately 10% to $867 per Mfbm in the second quarter of 2022 from approximately $789 per Mfbm in the same quarter of 2021 as we benefitted from strong sales to the U.S. market and its high prices in the first part of the quarter. Although U.S. lumber pricing decreased in the later part of the current quarter due to concerns of rising interest rates and inflationary pressures, prices were still at historically attractive levels. European lumber pricing increased due to steady demand with limited supply.

In the second quarter of 2022 per unit fiber costs increased by approximately 37% from the same quarter of 2021 as a result of both strong demand for sawlogs and the use of more green logs as producers have largely worked through the availability of lower cost beetle damaged timber. We currently expect per unit fiber costs to increase in the third quarter of 2022.

Consolidated – Six Months Ended June 30, 2022 Compared to Six Months Ended June 30, 2021

Total revenues for the first half of 2022 increased by approximately 43% to $1,165.1 million from $814.6 million in the first half of 2021 primarily due to higher sales realizations and higher pulp sales volumes.

Costs and expenses in the first half of 2022 increased by approximately 30% to $928.7 million from $711.7 million in the first half of 2021 primarily due to higher pulp sales volumes, per unit fiber costs and energy, freight and chemical costs partially offset by the positive impact of a stronger dollar on our euro and Canadian dollar denominated costs and expenses.

In the first half of 2022, Operating EBITDA increased by approximately 81% to $299.5 million from $165.8 million in the same period of 2021 primarily due to higher sales realizations and pulp sales volumes and the positive impact of a stronger dollar partially offset by higher per unit fiber costs and other production costs.

Liquidity

As of June 30, 2022, we had cash, cash equivalents and a term deposit aggregating $494.9 million and approximately $276.2 million available under our revolving credit facilities providing us with aggregate liquidity of about $771.1 million.

Quarterly Dividend

A quarterly dividend of $0.075 per share will be paid on October 5, 2022 to all shareholders of record on September 28, 2022. Future dividends will be subject to Board approval and may be adjusted as business and industry conditions warrant.

For the full second quarter results, click here.

About Mercer International

Mercer International Inc. is a global forest products company with operations in Germany, USA and Canada with consolidated annual production capacity of 2.3 million tonnes of pulp, 550 million board feet of lumber and 140 thousand cubic meters of CLT. To obtain further information on the company, please visit its web site at https://www.mercerint.com.

Contact:

Juan Carlos Bueno – Chief Executive Officer – (604) 684-1099

Source: Mercer International Inc.