Renewcell ends 2023 on upbeat production note

Circular fibre producer Renewcell has reported a more upbeat December in terms of sales as it continues to struggle against lacking product demand.

For the period December 1 to 31, 2023, the Swedish manufacturing firm said that it had produced around 818 metric tonnes of dissolving pulp, while 1,000 metric tonnes had been delivered to its customers over the period. This was out of the stock of pre-sale with trading partner Ekman.

Over the month, the total production output at Renewcell 1, its core facility, was approximately 1,149 metric tonnes.

While the figures reported by Renewcell may not be monumental, it brought a more positive note to what was a rather challenging year for the firm, which ultimately opted to initiate a strategic review towards the end of 2023.

Earlier in November, Renewcell issued some lacklustre financials for Q3, with net sales for the three months to September coming in at 84.4 million Swedish krona and operating profit dropping to 50.5 million krona.

The disappointing results confirmed what Renewcell had already anticipated back in its guidance update during October, when it stated that it was experiencing a slower than expected flow of Circulose pulp fibre – its central product – throughout the value chain.

A shift, however, came late December, when the company confirmed that it had secured a SEK 100 million capital injection to resolve short-term liquidity issues, while one its core clients, H&M Group, had further amped up its order of Circulose in a supportive move.