Good morning. We welcome you to the Altri Second Quarter 2026 results conference call. During the presentation, all participants will be on a listen-only mode. There will be an opportunity to ask questions after the presentation. If you wish to ask a question during the Q&A session, you may do so by pressing the star key, followed by five on your telephone keypad. If you are experiencing any difficulty in hearing the conference at any time, please make sure you have your headset fully plugged in, or alternatively, please try calling from a different device. I will now hand the conference over to Mr. Rui Cesário, the Head of IR of the Altri group. Please go ahead, sir.
Good morning, thank you for joining Altri's second quarter 2026 results conference call. Today, we will review the financial performance, market conditions, operational highlights, and outlook, followed by Q&A session. Joining us this morning are Mr. José Pina, Altri's CEO, and Mr. Miguel Silva, the group's CFO. I will now hand over to Mr. José Pina.
Thank you, Rui. Good morning, everyone, thank you for joining us today. If we move on to slide number two, second quarter represented a significant improvement compared with the first quarter of the year. As you will recall, the beginning of 2026 was heavily impacted by severe storms in Portugal, which affected wood availability, logistics, and operational efficiency across our mills. During the second quarter, however, conditions progressively normalized, allowing us to recover production stability and improve overall profitability. At the same time, market conditions became increasingly supportive. Pulp prices recovered throughout the quarter, dissolving pulp demand strengthened, customer activity remained healthy, particularly across Asian markets. These developments provide a much stronger commercial environment than the one we experienced at the beginning of the year. Against this backdrop, revenues reached approximately EUR 205 million and EBITDA recovered to EUR 30 million with a margin of 14.7%.
While profitability remains below the levels achieved in stronger market cycles, the quarter clearly demonstrates the earning potential of the business once operational disruptions are removed. Importantly, we did not only focus on operational recovery. We focused to advance our long-term diversification strategy with the acetic acid and furfural projects entering the ramp-up phase at Caima, the Biotek conversion project gaining commercial momentum, and the AeoniQ demo project progressing well according to plan. These developments represent important steps in what we believe will become an increasingly significant source of value creation for the group. In parallel, the group continued to receive important external recognition for sustainability performance, further reinforcing our positioning as a leading sustainable product producer.
Therefore, whilst this quarter clearly reflects the recovery of our core business, it also marks the beginning of a new phase, where Altri starts to progressively capture the benefits from the specialty fibers and diversification investment cycle that has been under execution over the last few years. Moving on to market development. Although global pulp demand remained relatively soft during the first months of the year, the overall trend improved progressively throughout the quarter. China continued to outperform most other regions and remained a key demand driver for hardwood pulp. While global demand was still slightly below last year's levels, we observed a much healthier market environment than the one seen towards the end of 2025. Turning to slide number four, the dissolving pulp market continues to be one of the most interesting areas within the broader fiber market.
As shown on this slide, global dissolving pulp demand increased by more than 6% year-on-year during the first four months of 2026, with Asia accounting for most of this growth and China remaining the main demand driver. The underlying driver remains unchanged. Global textile producers continue to increase their use of cellulosic fibers, supported by consumer demand for more sustainable products and by the need to reduce reliance on fossil-based synthetic alternatives. These structural trends is creating attractive long-term opportunities for dissolving pulp producers. For Altri, this market is strategically important because it supports the diversification efforts and our objective of increasing exposure to higher value cellulose applications. Whilst we're still in a transformation phase of the bioplant, the demand trends we see today continue to reinforce the rationale behind this investment and our confidence in the long-term growth potential of the business.
Let me now briefly comment on inventory levels, which remain an important indicator of market health. Inventories at European ports have remained below historical averages during April and May, indicating a healthier supply-demand balance. As you can see, stock levels were consistently within the range of approximately 1.4 million-1.5 million tons. This inventory position contributed to the improvement in market sentiment in Europe observed during the second quarter. Moving from demand and inventories to pricing, let me add a few comments on BHKP prices in Europe during the quarter. After a weaker environment towards the end of 2025, pulp markets improved significantly during the first half of 2026. We saw a sequence of successful price increase announcements across the industry, supported by better demand trends, particularly in China, and by relatively healthy inventory levels in Europe.
As a result, average BHKP prices in Europe increased by around 16% year-on-year and 13% compared to the first quarter. What is particularly encouraging is that this recovery was not driven by a single event, but rather by a gradual improvement in market fundamentals throughout the first half of the year. From Altri's perspective, higher prices come at an important time as they coincided with the progressive normalization of operations following the storms experienced in the first quarter. While we remain mindful of the macroeconomic uncertainties that continue to affect global industrial activity, we believe current inventory levels and customer purchasing patterns support a more balanced market environment going forward. On dissolving pulp pricing, we also observed a positive trend. As shown on this slide, average DP prices increased around 9% quarter-on-quarter and recovered materially from the levels observed at the beginning of the year.
This improvement was primarily supported by stronger demand for Asian textile producers, particularly in viscose and lyocell applications, where cellulosic fibers continue to gain relevance as a more sustainable alternative to synthetic fibers. For Altri, this trend is particularly relevant. Over the past few years, we have been progressively positioning the group to increase its exposure to higher value-added cellulosic fibers, and dissolving pulp is a central component of that strategy. Whilst we're still at an early stage of the AeoniQ transformation journey, market dynamics remain supportive and reinforce our confidence in the long-term opportunity for this business segment. Moving now to operational performance. The first half of the year continued to reflect the impact of the severe weather events experienced during the first quarter, as well as the scheduled maintenance shutdown at Celbi. As expected, these factors affected production volumes on a year-over-year basis.
Production declined compared to the first half of 2025, largely reflecting circumstances that we consider temporary in nature. One aspect I would like to highlight is the resilience shown by our commercial platform. Despite the operational challenge that sales volumes increased versus the same period last year, reflecting both the strength of our customer relationships and the team's ability to maintain a reliable supply for our market. Protecting customer relationships has always been one of Altri's strategic priorities, particularly during periods of operational disruption, and we believe this quarter again demonstrated the value of that approach. Another important development was the continued increase in dissolving pulp sales. This reflects both the gradual conversion of AeoniQ and the growing acceptance of our products by customers. Although the transition remains ongoing, we are encouraged by the commercial progress achieved so far and by the increasing number of qualification processes currently underway.
Looking now at our commercial mix. Tissue continues to represent our largest end-use segment and remains a stable source of demand for our products. The most strategically relevant trend is the increasing contribution from textile applications and Asian markets. Textiles represented around 15% of our sales volumes during the first half, while Asia accounted for approximately 18% of sales. Both figures have increased meaningfully over recent years and reflect the changing profile of the group. This evolution is not occurring by chance. It is a direct consequence of our deliberate strategy to move further into dissolving pulp and other specialty fiber applications, where we believe long-term growth prospects are particularly attractive. At the same time, increasing exposure to Asian markets provides access to some of the fastest growing end-use segments globally, particularly within the textile value chain.
As part of that strategy, we now have a direct presence in China with a local seller. Therefore, beyond the short-term quarterly performance, this slide illustrates the direction in which we are strategically transforming the group. I will now pass the floor to Miguel Silva, Altri's CFO, who will walk you through the main financial highlights of the quarter.
Thank you, José, and good morning, everyone. Let me now review the financial performance for the quarter in slide 10. As José highlighted earlier, the second quarter represents a significant recovery compared to the first quarter and demonstrates the business' ability to generate earnings once operations return to normal conditions. Total revenues reached EUR 204.6 million during the quarter, an increase of approximately 21% compared with the same period last year, and almost 28% versus the first quarter. This performance was supported by three main factors. First, a recovery in sales volumes following the operational disruptions experienced at the beginning of the year. Second, a stronger contribution from dissolving pulp sales. Third, the improvement in market prices that we discussed earlier. On the profitability side, EBITDA reached EUR 30 million, compared with EUR 5.4 million in the first quarter and EUR 28.2 million in the second quarter of last year.
The quarter therefore marks a return to a more normal profitability profile for the group. While we continue to face some wood cost pressure, most operational and logistics inefficiencies experienced earlier in the year were corrected during the second quarter, allowing profitability to recover materially. I would also note that this recovery was achieved while continuing to invest in the commercial development of our diversification project and specialty fiber strategy. Looking now at the first half of the whole, in slide 11, the reported figures still reflect the significant disruption caused by the first quarter. Total revenues reached EUR 365 million, broadly stable compared with the first half of last year, declining by only around 2%. However, EBITDA reached EUR 35.5 million, compared with EUR 57.6 million in the first half of 2025.
The difference is almost entirely explained by the extraordinary circumstances that affected operations during the first quarter, including the storms, supply chain disruptions, and higher wood cost. For that reason, we believe the quarterly evolution from Q1- Q2 provides a better indication of the current trend in the business than the first half comparison alone. The key takeaway is that the operational and commercial recovery achieved during Q2 allowed us to start rebuilding profitability following what was an unusually challenging start of the year. This recovery is particularly visible at the margin level. EBITDA margin improved from 3.4% in the first quarter to 14.7% in the second quarter, representing an increase of more than 11 percentage points quarter-on-quarter. This was driven by a combination of stronger selling prices, higher sales volumes, and improved operational efficiency.
Overall, however, we are encouraged by the pace of recovery achieved during the quarter and by the clear improvement in profitability trends. Moving down in the income statement as a consequence of the EBITDA recovery, the improvements naturally flow through the remainder of the income statement. EBIT reached EUR 18.5 million during the quarter, compared with a EUR -6.3 million in the first quarter and EUR 16.9 million in the second quarter of last year. Net profit reached EUR 12.9 million, compared with a loss of EUR 7.3 million in Q1 and EUR 6.4 million in the comparable period last year. This represents a very significant recovery in earnings and clearly illustrates the operating leverage embedded within the group. Looking at the half year figures, EBIT for the first six months reached EUR 12.2 million, while net profit amounted to EUR 5.6 million.
Both figures remain below the level achieved during the first half of 2025. Once again, these results are heavily influenced by the very weak first quarter. If we look only at the second quarter, profitability levels are already much closer to recent historical patterns. Turning now to costs on slide 15. One of the most encouraging developments during the second quarter was the progressive normalization of most operating and logistics costs. Energy costs remained broadly stable. Chemical costs also remained relatively controlled, despite some inflationary pressure linked to energy-related inputs. The main area where we continue to see some pressure is wood. As discussed previously, the storms experienced early in the year affected wood availability and forest conditions across Portugal. While conditions improved significantly throughout the quarter, some impact on procurement costs remains visible.
The positive aspect is that we expect this effect to progressively dilute over the coming quarters as supply chains continue to normalize. Moving to the balance sheet on slide 16. Net debt increased from approximately EUR 348 million at the end of March to EUR 398 million at the end of June. This increase was primarily explained by two factors. First, the payment of dividends during the quarter, and second, the continued investment in diversification and growth projects. During the quarter, we continued investing in projects that we believe will contribute meaningfully to the future development of the group, including a Biotek conversion to dissolving pulp, Caima's acetic acid and furfural, and AeoniQ. Despite these investments, we have a comfortable liquidity position that provides us with sufficient financial flexibility to continue executing our strategy. With that, I will now pass it back to José.
Thank you, Miguel. Before discussing our strategic projects, I'd like to spend a moment on capital efficiency and returns. As shown on this slide, our ROCE currently stands at around 3%, significantly below the level that Altri has historically delivered over the cycle. It is important to recognize that this reflects a very specific point in the cycle rather than a structural change in the quality of the business. Over the last decade, Altri has consistently generated double digit returns through most phases of the pulp cycle, and in stronger market environments, we have achieved returns comfortable in the mid-teens and above. Today, however, we are simultaneously facing two factors that temporarily depress returns. First, our needs remain impacted by a period of relatively weak pulp market conditions and more recently by the operational disruption experienced in the first quarter.
Second, we are carrying a significantly larger asset base as a result of investments made over recent years to support our diversification strategy. In other words, part of the capital has already been invested, whilst a meaningful portion of the future earnings contribution is still to be delivered. This is particularly true for projects such as the Biotek conversion into dissolving pulp, the acetic acid, and the furfural project at Caima and the AeoniQ platform, all of which are at different stages of commercialization and ramp-up. Therefore, we believe the current ROCE should be viewed as a transitional metric rather than a reflection of the long-term earnings potential of the group. As market conditions continue to improve and our diversification projects progressively contribute to profitability, our objective is to move returns closer to the level that shareholders have historically associated with Altri. Moving now to sustainability.
It remains fully embedded in our business strategy and continues to be an important differentiating factor for the group. During the quarter, Altri was recognized by CDP as a supply engagement leader after achieving an A rating for the supply engagement assessment. This distinction recognizes companies that demonstrate leadership in working collaboratively with suppliers on climate-related matters and in strengthening resilience across their supply chain. We are also included for the second consecutive year in TIME's ranking of the world's most sustainable companies, highlighting our continued progress across the environmental, social, and governance dimensions. While these recognitions are clearly positive, we view them as confirmation that the strategic choices made by the group over many years are producing tangible results. In parallel, we launched our sustainability literacy program designed to strengthen sustainability awareness across the organization and further embed sustainability into everyday decision-making.
Ultimately, we see sustainability not only as a responsibility but also as a source of competitive advantage. As customers increasingly focus on traceability, carbon footprint, and sustainable sourcing, we believe Altri is well-positioned to benefit from these structural trends. Turning now to our diversification project. The first project I would like to discuss is the acetic acid and furfural units at Caima. This project entered the ramp-up phase during June and represents an important milestone in Altri's strategy to expand into adjacent specialty markets, in particular in bioproducts. Although relatively modest in size compared to our core pulp operations, the economics of the project are highly attractive. We expect annual revenues of approximately EUR 6 million-EUR 7 million and annual EBITDA of around EUR 5 million once fully ramped up. Importantly, this project demonstrates that diversification does not always require very large capital commitments.
By leveraging existing industrial assets and know-how, we were able to take what was before a residue, create attractive new revenue streams while maintaining disciplined capital allocation. The project is expected to achieve full ramp-up by the end of this year, and we look forward to updating shareholders on this progress over the coming quarters. On the Biotek conversion into dissolving pulp, we believe this move represents one of the most significant value creation opportunities currently within the group. As we have discussed previously, dissolving pulp has historically commanded a substantial premium over commodity hardwood pulp while requiring only a moderate increase in operating costs. During the second quarter, we continued to accelerate the commercial phase of the project. Customer qualifications progressed, engagement with potential clients increased, and we completed the first large-scale commercial delivery to new customers.
Whilst qualification processes in specialty markets naturally require time, we are encouraged by the feedback received and by the increasing visibility of future demand opportunities. What is particularly important is that we are now moving beyond the technical conversion phase and increasingly into the commercial acquisition phase. In many ways, this is where value creation starts becoming visible. The investment is largely completed, although some into 2027. The operational capability is in place, and our focus is now on customer development, product qualification, and progressively increasing volumes. For that reason, we increasingly view Biotek as a project entry into delivery acquisition phase rather than an investment phase. In the following slide on the AeoniQ project, it remains one of the most interesting long-term opportunities within our portfolio.
The objective is to create a new generation of sustainable textile fibers capable of addressing some of the environmental challenges associated with traditional textile production. During this quarter, execution continued according to plan, and the demo unit, which is in this case pre-industrial, is under final installation. Production is expected to begin during the fourth quarter of this year. While AeoniQ is still at an earlier stage than Biotek, we continue to see strong interest from potential partners and customers across the textile value chain. What makes this opportunity particularly attractive is that it positions Altri much further downstream, bringing us closer to end markets and creating exposure to a potentially very large addressable market. Naturally, this remains a long-term project. However, every milestone achieved during 2026 increases our confidence in its future potential and its strategic role it can play within the group long term.
To conclude, let me share our outlook and strategic execution. The first point I'd like to highlight is that market conditions have clearly improved compared to the beginning of the year. Hardwood pulp demand remains supported by China and good indications from Europe, while dissolving pulp continues to benefit from positive structural and cyclical trends. The second point relates to pricing. Following the strong recovery observed during the first half, we expect a more stable pricing environment during the second half of the year. While we do not assume a continuation of the rapid increases experienced early in the year, current fundamentals appear supportive of a balanced market environment. Finally, operationally, the significant disruption experienced during the first quarter is now largely behind us. Looking beyond the immediate market environment, our strategic focus remains unchanged. Delivering our diversification strategy remains one of management's top priorities.
At Biotek, we continue to expand customer qualifications and commercial relationships. At Caima, we expect the acetic acid and furfural project to progressively ramp up during the second half. At AeoniQ, our focus remains on successful starting production at the demonstration unit later this year. To conclude, I wanted to highlight that the second quarter marked a clear recovery for Altri. Our operations normalized, profitability improved significantly, market conditions have become more supportive, and our strategic projects continue to advance according to plan. At the same time, we are increasingly seeing signs that the investments made over recent years in diversification and specialty fibers are beginning to translate into tangible commercial and operational progress. Whilst we will remain disciplined and realistic regarding the challenges we have, we believe the group enters the second half of 2026 from a position of greater strength and improved market fundamentals.
We believe Altri will be successful in its transition to become a more diversified group with a higher footprint in the specialties market besides cost leadership in the bulk pulp segment. Thank you for your attention. We look forward to your questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Q&A session starts now. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star followed by five on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from Bruno Filipe Bessa from CaixaBank BPI. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Yes. Good morning. A few questions from my side, if I may. The first one on the cash costs for 2026. If I remember correctly, I think you mentioned the mid-single digit cash cost increase expected in 2026 with your Q1 earnings call. Just trying to understand if you keep that view.
We cannot hear any questions.
Can you hear me better now? Hello? Hello? Hello?
I'm sorry. We cannot hear any question.
Hello?
Okay.
Hello?
Okay, there seems to be a small problem with the connection. We will try and solve it, and in the meantime, we will follow to the next question, and we will come back to Bruno as soon as we fix it. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Can you move to the following question?
Our next question comes from António Seladas from AS Independent Research. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good morning. Thank you for the presentation, and thank you for my questions. I have two. The first one is on volumes sold. The quarter was quite nice, maybe you can provide some color on what kind of figures do we expect for the coming quarters, namely in dissolving, because I think the quarter was one of the best quarters ever in terms of dissolving pulp sold, tons sold. This is first question. Second question is the wood prices. You mentioned that the abnormally high prices should dilute or should come down. Should we expect 10%-20% prices coming down? Is that a fair assumption? Maybe you can provide some color on these two? Thank you very much.
I'm sorry, Bruno, we were unable to hear the question. The sound did not come through clearly.
Your turn.
I'm going to do the questions via the webcast.
Thank you, sir. We are sorry for the inconvenience. Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties. If you happen to have the chance of submitting your questions via webcast, that will be the best option. In the meantime, we are trying to solve the complications. Thank you very much for your understanding. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would be so kind as to dial star five if you would like to ask a question. We will try and answer it the best we can. Thank you very much.
Thank you. In the meantime, we do have a written question by António Seladas, and I will repeat the question. Wood prices, could you provide some color for the coming quarters? Namely, is it fair to expect 10%-20% price decreases? Volumes sold on dissolving pulp, what should we expect in the coming quarters? António, what we can say at this point, as we have referenced, the wood prices were significantly factoring in the first quarter. Some of that had implications in the second quarter, as you would imagine. We've had a significant reduction in market availability of fiber during these first six, seven months. Things have now been normalizing, and in terms of costs going into the second half, we expect that situation to be gradually back to normal.
The overall wood prices should be normalizing, and availability should be normalizing as well in the second half. Effectively, by the end of this year, we don't expect any significant further impact. With respect to volumes of dissolving pulp, we have more stable volumes within our existing Caima unit. When it gets to Biotek, there are multiple qualifications taking place. Some of the commercial sales that you have seen now in Q2 are continuing, so they will start providing a base loading of the Biotek asset. Over time, we have now more than 10 qualifications ongoing into multiple segments, not just in textiles, but also in specialty. We would expect to gradually start seeing some of those qualifications conclude. It will depend when contracts actually will have to be negotiated and confirmed once qualifications do take place.
The final stage of the qualification, as you may know, is large-scale industrial production and then a qualification of that output into the customer's applications and with customers further down the value chain. That usually does take some time. As I said, we're now ongoing with Biotek already on commercial sale. Gradually, you should see a steady increase in Indonesia. Thank you for the question. We have another question. Alfred, can you please-
Yes.
read the question?
Yes. We have the following question from Luis de Toledo from Oddo. The question is as follows. With regards to Gama Project, do you expect the need to book material impairments in the foreseeable future?
Thank you, Luis. With respect to the Gama Project, which has been archived just earlier this month, we are currently reviewing follow-up actions, including the possibility to present allegations to some of the arguments that were used to justify the archival. Once we have clarity on those, we will make a determination. Assuming that there are no further developments there in the near medium term, at some point, we will be recognizing the investment that has been made, some of which has already been recognized. We also need to remind ourselves that there is significant intellectual capital and value that was generated through the project, which is actually now being already applied to some of the conversion projects that we have. Just to complement that, any impairments that may be registered, these are purely from an accountancy perspective, so they would have no cash impact.
As far as free cash flow for the year, there is no impact. Thank you.
The following question comes from Maksym Mishyn from JB Capital. What was the share of wood sourced domestically in 1H 2026?
Regarding the share of wood sourced domestically in the first half, we're looking at roughly 60%. That included both domestic markets and our own forests. Actually, if we combine them, it will be closer, for year- to- date, it will be closer to 70%.
The next question comes from Bruno Bessa from CaixaBank BPI. What is the cash cost expectation for 2026? Could you please provide an indication about cash cost in 1H 2026, adjusting for the extraordinary events in Q1? Why do you expect stable prices until YE, considering the ongoing relevant new capacities coming to the market in China and Indonesia by YE 2026? When do you expect the Sucuriú Project to start up? Why do you think Suzano is giving in its investors presentation the indication that the project will only start up by YE 2028?
Thank you, Bruno. Let me take it in by slices. Starting with the cash flow expectation for 2026. We've given previously the indication that we expect middle- single digits for the full year. That remains our expectation. Based on our current forecast, that's pretty much in line with our previous indication. Overall cash flow should probably be in the range of approximately EUR 450 million. Considering what we see, at least on the normalization, in particular on inputs in terms of fiber, that remains. Our previous comments in the last call, even considering the disruption to the first quarter, will remain. In terms of prices year end, I think what you've seen right now, at least the market hasn't spiked. I would say the beginning of the summer low season, prices haven't necessarily moved in any significant way. There is an arbitrage with China.
China is correct about $20. We've seen in the last few weeks that stabilizing. I would say any movements there are going to be very much linked to supply and demand dynamics over the coming months. If you look back to Europe, prices do remain relatively stable, even though you may have some adjustments in the near months considering the relatively lower inventory levels, not just at ports across the board, but also on the supply side, most of this has been primarily supply-driven. I would not expect to find any significant justification and reason for a big swing in prices. Additionally to that, inflationary prices, in particular on fossil fuels, continue to remain an issue. That will affect, obviously, logistics, in particular on the dynamics of potentially imports of finished products into Europe.
We at least believe that's going to moderate somewhat and provide some stability at levels which are closer to where we are today. Just given those dynamics, I don't see necessarily that we're going to be into a period of anything that can swing. Stability, I think, will be what we would consider for the remaining of the year. As I've said, with potentially some minor adjustments. If you look at capacities by end of the year in China and Indonesia, as you know, capacities in China are a little bit volatile. We do have a series of projects in construction. These are integrated projects that are going to supply the continued growth that we see in China. Indonesia, there's been some constraints in terms of the fiber basket that is going to supply into those projects.
We'll have to see all of that volume, at least in Indonesia. It's non-certified volume, we will not find any of that in Europe. Obviously, we'll target, in particular, a lot of the growth that is still happening in Southeast Asia and will continue to happen in Southeast Asia in some basic segments such as tissue in particular, but also it will really target China. Here, I think we have to see what happens with fiber prices because China's hardwood fiber basket has been suffering some fluctuations. They've been experiencing significant storms which have reduced availability. Imports continue at a relatively good pace. I think there will be significant dynamics, particularly around Asia. As far as what we see looking at inventories in Asia, looking at inventories in China, customer demand, and also the current dynamics in Europe,
I think it will gradually find its way into the market, but I would not be expecting any very disruptive impact. With respect to the Sucuriú project, our expectation is likely, even though it's ongoing, that it's likely going to be more 2028 than late 2027. I think it's not unheard of for some of these larger projects to suffer delays. I think the full financing of the project is still a little bit of a question mark, but we'll have to see how that's going to evolve. I would imagine that we'll have some better indication towards the end of this year. I don't see it in this case, and I would agree that based on where it stands, I don't think we'll see it before 2028. Thank you, Bruno.
Our next question comes from Maksym Mishyn from JB Capital. What was the impact of hedges and FX on financials in the second quarter of 2026?
Thank you, Maksym. I'll ask Miguel to comment on that.
Sure. We have a positive effect of FX changes and FX hedges on the second quarter of 2026 of around EUR 2 million, which compares with a very negative effect on the second quarter of 2025, which was roughly in EUR -6 million. It's a big difference when we compare the second quarter positive effect of around EUR 2 million, with a negative effect of around EUR -6 million on the second quarter of 2025.
Our next question comes from António Seladas from AS Independent Research. Wood prices. Could you provide some color for the coming quarters? Namely, is it fair to expect 10%-20% price decreases? Volume sold on dissolving pulp, what should you expect from the coming quarters? Thank you.
Thank you, Operator. This question was already answered. I think we have a pending question from Manuel Lorente from Santander. Not written. Can we try. Yeah the call.
Yes. The next question comes from Manuel Lorente from Santander. Please go ahead.
Hello. Good morning. Can you hear me now?
Yes. Good morning.
Okay, great. Brilliant. Yeah, my question probably is on dissolving pulp cash cost impact over the overall group. I see on the slide that you report that dissolving pulp cash cost should be on average 10%-15% above standard pulp production. Are we there, or it's now a little bit higher because of the initial ramp-up cost of the operation? My question is because I was expecting somehow better relative performance of the cash costs in Q2, and that was not the case. I was wondering whether the blended cash cost between dissolving and traditional pulp impact is denting somehow the traditional good performance in terms of cash costs, or it's more wood related? Thank you.
Yeah. Thank you, Manuel. Well, while we're going through all of the qualifications at Biotek especially, that has an impact, and you would assume through the transition at least a higher cash cost impact from dissolving. I'll say generically through this stage, you'd probably be looking at cash cost in dissolving about 25% higher than what would be normal hardwood BHKP. It's normal through this process. You would expect it should be as such. The overall impact of wood on the cash flow, that usually has some relevance in particular because since we've seen some more elevated wood pricing, wood costs, that would trickle down into the dissolving pulp cash cost as well. Purely from an operational standpoint, bear in mind that the Biotek continues to be on swing.
Even though pretty much every month we're doing dissolving pulp productions and these transitions, and even when we do dissolving pulp runs, we are producing several qualities which are targeted to different markets, and those qualities also involve some transitions themselves. You would expect that the current year of the transition to see some more elevated impact. Overall, on a blended basis, as I said before, for the year, we remain to be within what we stated last time, which was in the middle- single digits, and that will mean on a blended basis, about EUR 400.
Okay, great. Much useful. A follow-up on cash cost. The overall full-year guidance implies a better relative performance of H2 versus the second quarter. This relative better performance, is wood related, logistics related, or any other specific consideration?
Thank you, Manuel. It implies an overall improved second quarter. I would say it comes from two primary elements. One is clearly wood related. In addition to that, I would add logistics related because we've had some significant disruptions during the first quarter. Some of them remain into the second quarter and not all have been resolved. We have, for example, the Biotek rail line to the port. That's still down. It's not expected to recover until sometime late Q3 or even early Q4. Those are things that will, as they normalize, they'll have an impact also on cash cost.
Okay, great. Thanks very much.
Thanks. Just to add on that, Manuel, overall, when we look at our current specific consumption KPIs, actually they've been on a very high note across the board. Fiber specific consumption as well as energy and chemical intensity, they've been on a very good footing. We're not at all concerned on that basis.
Great.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions. I will now hand over the session to the Altri team.
Well, thank you very much for attending the call today. As I stated, Q2 was a quarter of recovery. Overall operation disruptions and the extraordinary costs that we experienced in Q1 have gradually normalized. At the same time, we see a particularly favorable development in the market and looking into Q2, a more stable environment as well. We look forward to discussing those over the next quarter. Thank you for attending.
This concludes today's event. We thank you all for your presence. Ladies and gentlemen, you may now disconnect your lines.