Wood is the main raw material for all of our products. Metsä Forest is responsible for wood supply for the Group, and wood supply is its core business operation. We cooperate closely with wood suppliers and harvesting contractors and promote sustainable forestry through training and cooperation with stakeholders.
In addition to wood, we purchase fibre, chemicals and other materials, as well as machinery, equipment and services, in a centralised manner. Metsä Group’s external purchases total nearly EUR 3 billion annually. We aim to use local suppliers if possible. In 2020, 85% of our purchases came from countries where we have production sites. The majority of our purchases, excluding wood, came from Europe.
Responsible value chain
We cooperate with suppliers that meet our requirements in terms of reliable operations, ethical and environmental principles, quality and pricing. Our suppliers must comply with our Supplier Code of Conduct and Metsä Group’s sustainability principles. This serves to ensure that there are no risks related to corruption or child labour or other violations of human rights. We further develop cooperation with selected key suppliers and seek to concentrate our purchases with them. Each new subcontractor, goods supplier and service provider must sign our Supplier Code of Conduct. By the end of 2020, 94% of our total spend was covered by the Metsä Group Code of Conduct for Suppliers.