NEW YORK, NY, July 31, 2025 ‑ Mercer International Inc. (Nasdaq: MERC) today reported second quarter 2025 Operating EBITDA of negative $20.9 million, a decrease from positive $30.4 million in the same quarter of 2024 and $47.1 million in the first quarter of 2025.
In the second quarter of 2025, net loss was $86.1 million ($1.29 per share) compared to $67.6 million ($1.01 per share) in the same quarter of 2024 and $22.3 million ($0.33 per share) in the first quarter of 2025.
Mr. Juan Carlos Bueno, Chief Executive Officer, stated: “Our operating results for the second quarter of 2025 reflect the impacts of ongoing uncertainties in the global trade environment coupled with the resulting weaker dollar. This challenging backdrop contributed to weaker demand for pulp in China during the quarter. The related depreciation of the dollar relative to the euro and Canadian dollar had a negative impact of approximately $26 illion on our Operating EBITDA for the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first quarter. The second quarter also included an $11 million non-cash impairment on hardwood inventory at our Peace River mill emming from lower hardwood prices in China because of weaker demand.
We are actively monitoring developments in the U.S. and international trade policy landscape, including tariffs, countermeasures and countervailing duties. These efforts continue to focus on, among other things, proactively engaging with customers and preparing actions to mitigate potential exposures and leveraging opportunities presented by our geographic diversity.
As previously announced, we have implemented cost reduction initiatives and operational efficiency measures to build resiliency through this economic cycle. We refer to this program internally as "One Goal One Hundred", reflecting our entire team's steadfast commitment to achieving our target of $100 million in profitability improvement actions by the end of 2026, using 2024 as a baseline. We have identified core areas for permanent and one-time improvements to our bottom line and these efforts are progressing and in varying stages of implementation. To date, we have realized approximately $5 million in cost savings and anticipate achieving $25 million in avings by the end of 2025. We also expect further profitability improvements in 2025 from ongoing operational efficiency initiatives. We believe we are currently tracking to meet our target in 2026.
In the second quarter of 2025, third-party softwood pulp list prices in Europe remained relatively steady compared to the first quarter of 2025, while North America saw a modest increase driven by stable demand and supply constraints. In China, third-party pulp net prices decreased in the second quarter of 2025 as a result of weakened demand stemming from global trade policy uncertainty. As we enter into the third quarter of 2025, we anticipate a decrease in softwood pulp prices across our key markets amidst the current economic environment and seasonality. For hardwood pulp prices, we currently expect relatively steady prices in the third quarter of 2025.
