Mondi has provided an update on trading for the three months to 31 March 2026.
The company said that market conditions in the first quarter of 2026 remained challenging resulting in an underlying EBITDA of €212m, including €8m of forestry fair value gain (Q4 2025 €214m, including €1m of forestry fair value gain).
On a sequential basis, the corrugated packaging and flexible packaging business units increased sales volumes across the range of paper grades. This was supported by recent capacity expansions, as well as exposure to diversified geographies, end markets and products. There were also no planned maintenance shuts in the quarter. The increase in volumes was offset by lower average selling prices and, towards the end of the quarter, higher energy-related input costs. In the converting operations, performance of Corrugated Solutions and Paper Bags businesses was impacted by margin pressure, while Consumer Flexibles delivered a broadly stable performance, supported by resilient end-markets.
Significantly heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East further increased volatility in an already complex operating environment. Mondi have a limited direct exposure to the region and all operations continue to run safely. Across the business, the company said it has however experienced increased energy, raw material and logistics costs; the company are actively responding with pricing actions. While there is a customary lag, Mondi expect the impact of these price increases to take full effect in the third quarter of this year.
Following a recent reduction in wood prices in South Africa, and assuming the market environment does not change significantly for the remainder of the year, the full-year forestry fair value gain for 2026 is expected to be nil.
Mondi said it continues to take targeted actions to strengthen its competitive advantage. Operational excellence programmes, rigorous cost control and margin management remain central to this approach. In April, the company announced the closure of a further three converting plants comprising a Consumer Flexibles plant in Hungary and Corrugated Solutions plants in Poland and Germany. Together, these closures will reduce headcount by 450 over the course of this year. This brings the total number of recently announced plant closures to six, with customers transferring to alternative plants in the company’s network. Cash flow optimisation remains a priority, supported by disciplined control of capital expenditure and rigorous working capital management.
Andrew King, CEO, Mondi Group, commented, “Against a backdrop of challenging market conditions, sales volumes increased, although lower selling prices and latterly, cost pressures linked to escalating geopolitical tensions, weighed on underlying EBITDA. These pressures persist into the second quarter and we are taking pricing actions to mitigate their impact. While there is an inherent time lag, we expect these measures to take full effect in the third quarter. Despite the uncertain outlook, we continue to focus on what we can control — driving operational excellence, rigorous cost and margin discipline, optimising our production footprint and focused cashflow management. These actions underpin our confidence in our ability to navigate the current headwinds and continue to deliver our high-quality range of sustainable packaging and paper products for our customers.”
