The Paper product area combines all Stora Enso’s paper manufacturing and merchant operations under one management. Stora Enso Paper shares the Group’s vision of being the leading forest products company. For Stora Enso Paper, that means substantial market shares, comprehensive global product ranges and excellent customer service. Profitable growth is the means of reaching these targets.

Stora Enso Paper’s vision is to be the leading supplier of communication papers. The strategy is to achieve this vision through profitable growth in its core businesses. In the longer term, the focus is on emerging markets while remaining competitive in mature markets. There are three ways to grow:

• through mergers and acquisitions
• rebuilding existing capacity within the Asset Restructuring Programme
• building new capacity

Stora Enso carefully evaluates whether to close down older, less-efficient assets when building new capacity. The main criteria in selecting which way to grow are the Group’s financial targets.

Future paper trends

The escalating number of channels has made television a much less efficient medium for advertising than twenty years ago, as different channels are viewed only sporadically and digital video recorders enable consumers to skip advertisements. In recent years some leading consumer goods companies have been shifting their spending away from television, so competition between print and electronic media for advertising is intensifying.

Among paper products, free newspapers and supplements printed on magazine paper are a growth market. Sales of magazines targeted at special interest groups and customised magazines are increasing. Glossy and graphic-intensive magazines are also gaining ground from text-intensive magazines. Strong brands are highly valued in publishing.

Quantifying the drivers of demand trends and potential discontinuities in the most important customer segments and markets will be a key success factor for
Stora Enso.