Continuing to strengthen its independence from the availability of Latvia's strategic reserve of roundwood, “Stiga RM”, one of Latvia's leading wood-industry companies, plans to buy forest properties covering nearly 2,000 hectares in the near future, investing in Latvia's forests as a strategic asset. “Stiga RM” regularly buys up forest properties in Latvia, but the planned acquisition will be a significant step. The total investment will reach around EUR 8.5 million, of which EUR 3 million will be provided by the company from its own capital, with the remaining EUR 5.5 million coming from a loan from OP Corporate Bank plc.

“We are well aware that, with the rapid rise in harvesting volumes – which in Stiga RM's case already exceeds 500,000 cubic metres a year – it is strategically important to grow our portfolio of forest properties. In Stiga RM's view, forests are Latvia's strategic reserve, and they must be managed with an eye to the future, growing the forest as an asset. A forest can stand as a value in its own right, and, properly managed, it can also serve as the basis for producing and exporting high-value products. That is precisely why – by adding our knowledge and the possibilities offered by modern technology to timber – Stiga RM's birch plywood factory in Kuldīga and its acoustic-panel factory in Tukums are turning out high-value products in demand around the world,” says Stiga RM owner and chairman of the board Andris Ramoliņš.

“We are pleased to continue our long-standing cooperation with Stiga RM. We hold the company's focused approach to development and its readiness to invest in long-term value creation in high regard. Expanding its forest-property portfolio strengthens the company's independence in securing raw materials and creates a stable foundation for further growth, while also encouraging investment in the development of Latvia's forestry and wood-processing sector,” notes Elmārs Prikšāns, head of OP Corporate Bank plc's Latvian branch.

This is another step illustrating Stiga RM's policy of investing in Latvia's forests as an asset. The company has taken a similar step before, buying 505 hectares of Latvian forest land for a total of EUR 4.06 million. Through the 2023 deal, Stiga RM, as a domestic company, bought Latvian forest previously acquired by a Scandinavian investor – a rare occurrence in the forestry sector. “The company is currently in active negotiations with several foreign companies over the possibility of acquiring the forest land areas they own in Latvia. In Stiga RM's view, Latvian companies need to become far more independent when it comes to raw materials, in order to keep investing in the development of modern industry,” says Ramoliņš.

Through this deliberate investment in expanding its holdings, the total area managed by Stiga RM currently stands at 13,500 hectares. With the planned acquisition of forest properties, the company will manage close to 15,500 hectares, substantially widening its property portfolio and providing Stiga RM's factories with a stable flow of raw material. It is worth stressing that most of these properties are specifically forest land, where the company carries out the full forest-management cycle based on the principles of sustainable forest management.