Launch of sales process for Norske Skog AS

Mercer International Inc. announces that it has received the decision of the tribunal in respect of its previously announced claim against the Government of Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement. In a split decision, a majority of the tribunal ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to decide certain of the Company's claims under NAFTA and, with respect to the Company's other NAFTA claims, that they were highly complex and technical and that it would be inappropriate for the tribunal to re-determine matters calling for specialist judgment and, as a result, there was no violation of NAFTA. As is customary in these matters, the tribunal awarded costs to Canada of approximately $6.9 million. Click Read More below for additional information.

The Paperworkers’ Union announced that the strike at most UPM’s Finnish mills will continue until 30 April 2022, unless new collective labour agreements are reached before that. Yet another extension of two weeks to the strike comes at a moment when negotiations between the union and UPM businesses continue intensively, and the conciliator has submitted a settlement proposal in the negotiations between UPM Pulp and the union. The parties must state their position on the proposal by 14 April. "Drafting of business specific collective agreements, led by the conciliator, has continued intensively during the past weeks. There is already a settlement proposal for UPM Pulp. Now it is important to focus on solving the open questions in the remaining UPM businesses", says Jyrki Hollmén, Vice President, Labour markets, UPM.

"We saw increasing earnings and operating margins in the second quarter after a successful first quarter. We are also raising our adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow full-year guidance based on our first half of the year performance and our second half outlook," said Jean-Michel Ribiéras. "We remain committed to reducing debt, investing in high-return projects and returning cash to shareowners as we continue delivering on our investment thesis." Second Quarter Highlights *Net income from continuing operations of $84 million ($1.89 per diluted share) compared with $55 million ($1.25 per diluted share) in the first quarter of 2022 *Repaid $48 million of debt, achieving a gross debt-to-adjusted EBITDA ratio of 2.2x. Second Quarter Commercial and Operational Highlights *Price and mix improved by $73 million versus the prior quarter, mainly due to prior price increases implemented in all regions *Operations improved by $2 million and total planned maintenance outage expenses rose by $17 million in North America *Input costs grew by $16 million versus the prior quarter, reflecting higher chemical, energy, fiber and transportation costs.