Latvia, Markets and Companies, Woodwork

In 2013, LVM turned over EUR 259.89 million and earned EUR 60.49 million, which represented a 3% and 23% increase, respectively, as compared with 2012, according to data provided by "Firmas.lv".

The company's CEO Roberts Stripnieks indicated that the total income of LVM in 2014 exceeded the initial budget expectations by EUR 18.5 million, which was mainly determined by an increased selling price of wood. With the falling prices of diesel fuel, forest management costs and transportation costs reduced, which had a positive impact on the company's profit indicators.

"Market trends ensured stable prices for LVM's main commodities – conifer saw logs, deciduous tree logs, and veneer blocks – which was processed by our clients into ready-made products and sold on the global market. A comparatively worse situation was observed in the fuelwood industry, which suffered low demand and low prices due to the warm winter. The company faced an especially challenging situation in 2014, when under complicated weather conditions, it had to ensure wood supply to clients following the coordinated supply schedules, which ended with great results," Stripnieks said.

In 2014, LVM restored 18.8 hectares of forest land area. 39.9 thousand hectares of young forest plantations were managed periodically and intensely.

In 2014, LVM finished a total of 297 kilometers of forest roads, 119 kilometers of which were reconstructed and 177 kilometers were newly-built. These roads are included in the company's balance sheet, with the amount investments reaching EUR 19.5 million.

Last year, LVM registered the largest volume of seedling exports in the company's history – 8.8 million seedlings. "This was achieved thanks to focused investments in seedling cultivation technologies and their quality. Our main foreign trade markets are Sweden, Estonia, Finland, and Lithuania," the company's CEO said.