Good evening. We welcome you to The Navigator Company third quarter 2025 results presentations. 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 followed by five on your telephone keypad. I'll now hand the conference over to Ana Canha. Please go ahead, madam.
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Navigator Company conference call and webcast for the third quarter and nine months' results. Joining us today are the following directors: António Redondo, Fernando Araújo, Nuno Santos , and António Quirino Soares. As usual, we will start with a brief presentation, and we will have a Q&A session at the end. The presentation can be accessed through the links available on the website, and questions may also be submitted using the webcast platform. António will start by commenting on the main highlights of the quarter. I will now hand over to António.
Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. I am pleased to share the results for our third quarter and first nine months of 2025. As you'll see in today's presentation, Navigator once again demonstrated its ability to adapt swiftly to very challenging market conditions while maintaining its strong competitive position in Europe. We continue to focus on creating value and protecting margins while investing in diversification and reinforcing the foundations for sustainable growth. I will begin with slide four with an overview of the key highlights. The first nine months of 2025 were marked by very significant volatility driven by geopolitical tensions and rising protectionism, adding to macroeconomic risks. Like others in global trade, Navigator felt the impact of slower demand in key markets.
The pulp and paper sector has faced severe pressure, visible in the sharp downturn in pulp prices in China since April, which also significantly impacted Europe. As anticipated, the third quarter marked the lowest point in this downward cycle. Faced with falling prices across its markets, Navigator succeeded in positioning itself competitively. We are firmly established around the globe, which enables us to seize opportunities, grow our sales volumes in all paper segments, and increase our market shares. Focused on operational excellence, the company implemented initiatives to optimize its variable costs and streamline its operations. The downward course of production costs is already visible, despite the temporary impact of cost categories such as energy and chemicals, the effect of which has tended to be diluted as the nine-month period progressed.
Pulp and tissue cash costs dropped to near their lowest since mid-2021, while paper cash costs reached a two-year low. As a result, the pulp and tissue cash costs fell at the end of the third quarter to their second lowest level since mid-2021. The paper cash costs were the lowest of the last two years. Despite significant market volatility across all segments, our packaging and tissue businesses delivered solid year-on-year growth and already account for 32% of the MTVA and 29% of the turnover through tissue. We are successfully scaling up operations and harnessing synergies following the recent acquisitions, namely Navigator Tissue UK. In packaging, our sales continue to show positive momentum with growth in volume, value, and strategic positioning in lower basis weights. We maintained a strong financial position after dividends and strong CapEx, keeping our net debt to MTVA ratio at 1.85x .
Now turning to slide five, please, with the main financial figures. Turnover totaled EUR 1,489 million. EBITDA stood at EUR 300 million with an EBITDA margin of 20.2%. Fernando will highlight the main impacts on the period. The successful execution of our diversification strategy has strengthened resilience amid market volatility, with tissue and packaging segments helping to offset the impact of subdued pulp and paper prices. In an uncertain macroeconomic environment, our EBITDA margin remains among the strongest in the industry, namely amongst those exposed to pulp, although below our historical average. I will now hand over to my colleagues who will walk you through the results in more detail and share some insights on how our different business areas have been doing. Fernando will start by the main impacts on EBITDA. Fernando, please go ahead.
Thank you, António. Turning to slide six, we can take a closer look at the main impacts on EBITDA in a year-on-year comparison. As already mentioned, EBITDA stood at EUR 300 million, down 30% year-on-year with an EBITDA margin of 20%. Year-to-date results were below last year's due to the lower sales price and rising cash costs, mainly for energy and chemicals, in the beginning of the year, which, as I mentioned, have since started to reduce. The downward trend in uncoated free and pulp sales prices was pressured by falling benchmark index. Change in our product mix also influenced our average sales price. Apart from pulp sales, all paper and tissue products saw a significant increase in sales volume over the nine-month period. Turning to slide seven with a quarter-on-quarter EBITDA analysis. In this quarter, EBITDA stood at EUR 84 million, down 17% quarter-on-quarter, reflecting an EBITDA margin of 18%.
Quarter-on-quarter, the EBITDA decreased mainly due to the sharp price reductions, partially offset by strong volumes and variable and fixed cost savings. Navigator sales prices fell across all segments quarter-on-quarter, following the drop in key benchmark index. We witnessed a strong rebound in pulp sales versus Q2, + 21,000 tons, driven by the market recovering in Europe and overseas, despite our selective sales strategy amid the sharp price drops. In uncoated free and packaging, we sustained volumes, offsetting the typical seasonality of the third quarter. We saw a good trend regarding production costs. Food costs were down due to lower prices and lower extra ingredient purchases. Energy and chemical costs also decreased due to lower prices. External fibers were also down as a result of lower market prices.
As António already mentioned, pulp and tissue cash costs dropped this quarter to near their lowest since mid-2021, while paper cash costs reached a two-year low. Turning to slide eight with debt maturity and liquidity. During the first nine months, we repaid close to EUR 400 million in debt, including EUR 275 million early repayment, strengthening our debt profile and increasing the share of sustainability-linked instruments. We also secured EUR 365 million in long-term facilities, with EUR 140 million still available, including a European Investment Bank loan of EUR 40 million to support the decarbonization projects, with no significant payments due in the next five years. We raised EUR 225 million in new debt, with a seven-year maturity, extending our average debt maturity to 5.2 years from 3.5 years in December. We also raised the weight of sustainability-linked debt to 79%.
After this debt renegotiation cycle, Navigator reduced its debt repayment commitments to very low volumes over the next five years, ensuring the reduction of its average credit spreads and increasing the weight of debt raised under ESG requirements. At the end of the period, 78% of our debt was on a fixed-rate basis. It should be noted that despite the rising interest rates in relation to our last financing cycle, our average cost of financing at the end of September remained low, at around 2.6%. The unused long-term credit facilities currently total EUR 140 million. Turning to slide nine with an overview on CapEx. The strategic CapEx cycle started in 2023, boosted by the Next Generation EU and Innovation Fund. It's coming to an end, expected to be completed by mid-2026.
In the first nine months of 2025, CAPEX totaled EUR 116 million, of which approximately 61% of total corresponds to value-creating and environmental or sustainable investments. Next Generation EU projects advanced on the scale, reflecting our strategic discipline and focus on delivering results, with 77% executed by the end of September, in time within the PRR calendar and in budget. Moving to slide 10, which presents key performance indicators. Let me highlight our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and long-term value creation, with a strong focus on decarbonizing our industrial process and investing in innovative technologies that improve resource circularity and cost efficiency. This quarter, we achieved a significant milestone in our decarbonization roadmap, namely with two biomass kiln conversions in operation at our Aveiro and Setúbal sites, and the third biomass kiln conversion at Figueira da Foz is now in the startup phase.
These projects are designed to reduce both greenhouse gas emissions from pulp mills and the dependence on fossil fuels. Notably, the new kiln in Figueira da Foz will also make a very significant contribution to the circular use of resources by enabling the reclamation of carbonate sludges, reducing the quantity of this waste sent to the landfill by around 90%. Thanks to this investment, the Aveiro and Figueira da Foz mills will operate in 2026, using around 9% renewable energy. The conversion of line kilns from fossil fuels to sustainable biomass will open the door to the innovative use of eucalyptus sawdust, a byproduct from wood preparation operation, as a renewable fuel. At the Setúbal mill, the conversion of line kiln to biomass as its energy source will lead to a reduction in carbon emissions of around 17,000 tons CO2 emission license a year.
In Aveiro and in Figueira da Foz, the project will allow a reduction of approximately 10,000 tons CO2 per year in each site. In Setúbal, this groundbreaking project has attracted support from the Innovation Fund, the European Union fund for climate policy, geared especially to energy and industry, and working to bring to the market solutions for decarbonizing the European industry and helping it make the transition to climate neutrality. The Aveiro project and the new line kiln in Figueira da Foz have been partially financed by the Next Generation EU funds. Together, these three projects represent a total investment of approximately EUR 60 million. This innovation substitution of fossil fuels will improve the cost base of the pulp production process.
It once again demonstrates Navigator's commitment to operational efficiency and underlines how its actions are aligned with the principles of sustainability in transforming waste into value and taking real steps to consolidate the group's circular economy strategy. António Quirino will now comment on pulp and paper prices.
Thank you, Fernando. Turning to slide 12 with pulp and paper prices. Between April and August this year, the hardwood kraft pulp price index in China sharply decreased, strongly influenced by overcapacity in the pulp and paper sector in view of the current situation of severe tensions in international trade and the reduction in demand in several paper segments in Western markets. The price dropping cycle bottomed out at a price of $493 per ton, which is down by 18%, the lowest since 2021.
Although this downward cycle has been shorter than previous cycles, it started from a significantly lower peak, reflecting a structurally weaker base than in previous cycles. In Europe, the benchmark index for hardwood pulp, the PIX hardwood kraft pulp in dollars, rallied to $1,218 per ton in April, up 22%, only to lose ground again in the months that followed, returning to $1,000 per ton in August, down by 18% as well, and remaining at that level until the end of September. In both regions, China and Europe, prices ended the third quarter on an upward trajectory.
Moving to paper, the benchmark index of office paper in Europe, PIX A4 B copy, stood at an average of EUR 1,023 per ton in the first nine months, which is 8% down on the same period last year, but 21% above the pre-pandemic average of EUR 847 per ton in the period of 2015 up to 2019, but below 25% from the 2022 peak. As we review Navigator 's performance in Europe, I would like to highlight our approach to sales pricing, which closely tracks the evolution of benchmark indices. We pursued two different strategies. First, we placed greater emphasis on economy products. This allowed us to increase our sales volumes, though it did have some impact on our overall product mix.
This strategy enabled us to offset the decline in imports into Europe by offering products with superior quality and stronger environmental credentials compared to typical imported papers into Europe, particularly those from Asia, while maintaining a price point above imports but below our premium and standard ranges. At the same time, it allowed us to continue supporting our most loyal premium customers with these economy offerings. Second, we maintained price premiums on our value-added products. This strategy ensured that our pricing on premium and standard products remained favorable compared to the market indices, specifically A4 B copy PIX. It's important to note that in international markets, our prices were affected by two other factors, namely the weaker dollar and the decline in the pulp markets in China. This dual approach has helped us remain competitive and responsive to market dynamics, balancing volume growth with value retention.
Moving to slide 13 on printing and writing paper market, we see that the global apparent demand for these papers fell by 2.7% until August. Specifically, uncoated free paper remained the most resilient, falling 1.6% this year, which is aligned with the historical average market decline, and this compares with a 5.1% decrease in coated free papers and a 4.2% decrease in mechanical fibers papers. In Europe, the apparent demand for uncoated free paper fell by 6.4% until August, driven specifically by a reduction in imports that were 11% below the same period of last year. In the United States, demand slipped by just 1%, while the closure of a major mill drove import reliance up 31% year-on-year, leveraged by tariff expectations. With capacity cuts and duties adding pressure, prices have climbed and are likely to remain strong, with more increases forecast through 2026.
In the first nine months of 2025, Navigator grew its share of total deliveries from European mills by 1.2 percentage points year-on-year, reaching about 26%. This was driven by strong gains in international markets, up 6 percentage points, while our European share remained steady at over 18%. Navigator's operating rate rose to 87% in the first nine months of the year, 7 percentage points above the same period last year. Meanwhile, the industry rate as a whole recovered slightly from 80%- 81%. These developments enabled Navigator to strengthen its ordering market share by 3 percentage points globally to 27% and by 2 percentage points in the European market to reach 19% year-on-year. Now moving to slide 14 to discuss the pulp market. As António Redondo mentioned previously, from April through August, there was a steep downward adjustment in pulp prices.
In terms of demand, global demand for hardwood pulp grew by 8% year-on-year until August, China remaining the main engine of growth with an impressive increase of 12% due to the continuous in new paper capacities in several grades, followed by the rest of the world with a 9% increase. In contrast, demand in Europe continued to fall, following the shrinking consumption of printing paper, as mentioned before, edging down by 1%. In the U.S., demand dropped by 1% as well after heavy restocking over the same period last year. The strongest global growth was for eucalyptus pulp, which was up by more than 10% in the first eight months of the year, with China growing an impressive 14% and Europe in line with the same period of last year. This performance has consistently boosted eucalyptus share in the hardwood bleach segment on the chemical pulps.
On the supply side, the ramp-up of projects on the pulp side that were brought online in 2024 increased the availability of market pulp in 2025, exerting pressure on operating rates. Even so, factors such as growing consumption, maintenance shutdowns, and recently announced cuts in production helped to balance the market and sustain the activity of hardwood producers in the first nine months of the year. The global pulp market will continue to be influenced by China, where growth in domestic consumption and projects for new tissue, paper, and board capacity have shaped the market balance. However, a significant proportion of these new lines is still at the initial startup stage, which could mitigate their impact in the short term. Doubts are also mounting as to the region's ability to supply wood sustainably for these new capacities. In Europe, stock levels remained relatively stable.
In China, although stocks at ports have been building up since January, analysis of paper production suggests that this growth is proportional to the expansion of their industrial operations and not an anomalous accumulation. The ratio of stock to those of production has been stable in recent months, pointing to a balance between supply and demand. Our sustained competitive advantage is anchored in the uniqueness of eucalyptus globulus, eco-efficiency, and fiber quality. On a positive note, as António mentioned, our pulp cash costs ended Q3 at their second lowest level since mid-2021, down 20% from January to September and 19% quarter-on-quarter. Moving to slide 15, covering the tissue market, we see that after a substantial growth of 6.3% in 2024, Western European demand for tissue was up year-on-year by 0.6%.
Navigator's tissue sales volume, finished products and mills, grew to 177,000 tons, a 14% increase compared with the same period of last year, with sales up 17%, boosted by the integration of Navigator Tissue UK in May last year. The recent acquisitions in Spain, 2023, and the U.K., 2024, have enabled us to balance our geographical mix and create greater resilience in our tissue business. Finished products accounted for 98% of total sales, while mills accounted for the remaining 2%. The at-home or consumer retail segment has grown in importance and currently accounts for around 83% of sales. The away-from-home segment, wholesalers, the Horeca channel, and offices account for the remaining 17%. The highlight of the quarter in the tissue segment was the business in Iberia, which recorded its best-ever quarter in sales of finished products.
We continued with the integration of the U.K. operation, with increased collaboration between local and Iberian teams, aiming to boost cross-selling opportunities between markets, optimize the portfolio, and identify and implement further cost-cutting and efficient opportunities. Navigator also launched a strategic plan to consolidate its U.K . tissue roll operations, building on an already efficient model to achieve even greater competitiveness and alignment with best practices. Moving to slide 16 on the packaging segment, we see that the global market for machine-glazed and machine-finished kraft papers grew by approximately 11% year-to-date August, reflecting its strong performance.
In this segment, Navigator 's sales were up 7% year-on-year in volume compared to last year, thanks to a rise of 1% in price and a 7% increase in volume, with a 10% growth in the area of paper sold due to an increased penetration in low-grammage segments, according to the strategy. Navigator has been developing and investing in the gKraft sustainable packaging segment, offering alternatives to fossil-based plastics and supporting the transition to renewable, low-carbon products. The gKraft brand has won market recognition, achieving a 15% growth in new customers opened during the period of year-to-date September, with a presence now in more than 40 countries worldwide. The top performance in the period was the release liner products, together with solutions for food and non-food packaging, which are strategic priority areas for our business.
These segments benefit more significantly from the use of lightweight papers, where the eucalyptus globulus offers significant competitive advantages, both economically and technically. MG and MF kraft papers, so machine-glazed and machine-finished kraft papers, are used in similar applications, such as bags, sachets, and several flexible packaging items. Traditionally, machine-finished is a slightly lower cost alternative, with inferior surface quality in comparison with machine-glazed. However, with the conversion of PM3 in Setúbal, production of machine-finished kraft papers in the gKraft range will be able to compete with machine-glazed on pulp. In Europe, machine-finished kraft paper for packaging purposes is produced by paper suppliers who typically can only ensure products above 60 grams. The overwhelming majority of the paper machines able to produce below 40 grams are old, small, and non-integrated machines and aimed at the machine-glazed kraft papers.
The rebuild of the PM3 machine in Setúbal takes advantage of Navigator 's vertical integration and the cost efficiency of the eucalyptus globulus fiber for production of distinct top-quality kraft papers. As a result of this project, Navigator will move up to fourth place in the European League table of low-grammage flexible packaging manufacturers, strategically consolidating its presence in a segment where demand is urgent. In order to ensure that the asset maintains its flexibility and it is adaptable, the project has been designed to allow, if necessary, the production of different grades of encoded free paper, guaranteeing our capacity to respond to market dynamics and preparing us for future scenarios. I will now hand over to António.
Thank you, Quirino. Let's please turn to slide 17 with a wrap-up of the Q3 and nine months' results. Our diversification strategy is paying off. The diversification to higher growth and less cyclical markets, such as tissue and packaging, although more dependent on the end-user consumption, reinforces the company's long-term value creation and resilience. In tissue, we are successfully scaling our operations, expanding into new markets, and positioning ourselves to further unlock long-term synergies that will drive sustained growth. In packaging, increased penetration in low-gramage segments confirms the strong appeal of the eucalyptus globulus fiber for these segments, leading to a 10% increase in paper areas sold, compared to a 7% increase in sales volume in tons. By focusing on efficiency and cost management, we achieved a significant reduction in cash costs across all pulp and paper segments. We kept our focus on core operations, business transformation, and innovation.
We carried out value-added CapE of EUR 160 million, aiming at sustainable long-term cost efficiency, while keeping consistent conservative financial policies after a high level of CapEx and a EUR 175 million dividend payout. Let's turn to slide 19, please, with a few words about the outlook. Let me now share our perspective on the current market environment and our outlook for the coming months. Globally, we are seeing a reduction in overall uncertainty and still moderate growth prospects. It's important to recognize the continued presence of risks. Protectionism, economic fragmentation, and financial vulnerabilities in major economies remain a concern. While a recession does not appear imminent, growth is still relatively subdued, and ongoing uncertainty continues to weigh on investments and international trade. Despite these challenges and limited visibility, we are cautiously optimistic about short-term market developments.
We anticipate that conditions will improve, particularly in the pulp, tissue, and packaging segments, where the printing and writing paper segment demand is expected to remain under pressure, although with uncoated free presenting most likely again a better perspective than other printing and writing papers. Regarding the pulp market, China continues to play a decisive role. Growth in domestic consumption and new capacity projects have shifted the market's focus. That said, many of these new lines are still in the early stages, which should moderate their immediate impact. There is also increasing uncertainty regarding the region's ability to source wood sustainably for these expansions. As a result, we have seen pressure on global prices and a change in trade flows, with China's influence growing. Notably, the third quarter of 2025 was the weakest since 2021, with prices averaging $500 per ton in China.
We believe this marks the bottom of the current price cycle, as both China and Europe saw prices start to recover towards the end of the last quarter. In the printing and writing paper, the overall global outlook remains challenging amid a structural consumption downturn. Europe, with strong encoded free demand contraction, while the U.S. and remaining overseas markets with a more moderate fall. Global encoded free demand, with - 1.6% so far this year, is in line with the last 10 years' yearly rate. On the supply side, Europe has seen significant capacity reductions, with recent closures removing around 430,000 tons annually, about 7% of the region's capacity. Another major European player is also facing financial difficulties, which could lead to further capacity cuts. European imports remain stable, with no upward pressure. EUDR discussions continue, and its implementation is expected to reinforce the European pulp and paper market.
Meanwhile, the U.S. market has shown greater resilience. The closure of the country's largest mill, accounting for 8% of total capacity, has deepened the market's structural shortfall, with North American production estimated to lag 800,000- 1.1 million tons versus North American demand. Another closure announced this quarter will remove 320,000 tons of encoded free capacity by Q3 next year, further increasing U.S. import requirements. Meeting this demand will depend on a select group of countries able to supply products meeting the U.S. market's stringent specifications, primarily manufacturers in Europe and Latin America. Latin American suppliers, however, are facing the prospect of higher tariffs, both on developing duties and customs terms than those currently imposed on European imports. In response, U.S. producers may focus on their domestic market, potentially creating opportunities for competitors in their existing export markets. Despite this complexity, new opportunities are arising in the encoded free market.
For example, Mexico's customs tariffs on Asian imports and Colombia's tariffs on imports from Brazil are providing competitive advantages for Navigator in these countries, supporting sales and expanding our footprint. In tissue, demand has increased by an estimated 0.4% so far in 2025, with annual growth expected to hold steady at around 1% through to 2029. The integration of Navigator Tissue UK is progressing, with stronger collaboration between local and Iberian teams unlocking cross-selling, optimizing the portfolio for higher margin products. To strengthen our market position and operational resilience, we have launched a strategic plan to consolidate our UK tissue roll operations in two sites, Leyland and Leicester, reducing sites from five to two, integrating production and storage for greater efficiency, scalability, and cost competitiveness, building on an already efficient model to achieve even greater competitiveness and alignment with best practices.
Regarding a new tissue machine, the final investment decision is anticipated by year-end 2025. Packaging continues to perform strongly, with growth in sales and prices. Our project to convert the PM3 paper machine at Setúbal is progressing as planned. This will elevate Navigator to fourth place among European manufacturers of low-grammage flexible packaging, consolidating our presence in a segment with robust demand. Navigator's integrated management, sound financial position, and our ability to respond flexibly to market demand from foreign to Finnish products are enabling us to face these challenges and prepare confidently for the future. Continuous development and diversification of our business base will further reinforce the resilience and sustainability of our business model. The next slide provides a quick update on our operational excellence initiatives.
Amid the ongoing global uncertainty, Navigator is proactively strengthening its resilience through several targeted initiatives under a program called Operational Excellence Initiatives 2025-2026, as already announced last quarter. Keeping its focus on high operational standards, the company has launched internal programs designed to act on different fronts to protect results. These involve programs for the optimization and reduction of variable costs by streamlining specific consumption of raw and subsidiary materials, seeking strategic negotiation with suppliers, as well as logistic cost reductions. The company will also step up its commitment to Iberian wood, promoting local and sustainable procurement. In this front, in this first quarter, it is already visible the impact of some of the measures implemented. As mentioned in our previous call, Navigator is advancing its operational excellence through a robust investment in AI, namely advanced process control solutions aimed at enhancing process stability, efficiency, and product quality.
The company has successfully deployed third-party APC systems, two in calcification processes and one in pulp bleaching, with two more in the pipeline, while it is also developing proprietary machine learning algorithm solutions internally. These include optimization of precipitated calcium carbonate incorporation and reduction of variability in tissue gramage control and integrated control of thickness, gramage, and reference in encoded free paper production. This multi-pronged approach reflects Navigator's commitment to innovation and continuous improvement across its industrial operations. We're also focusing on improving efficiency by cutting fixed costs, namely freezing headcount and optimizing running costs. We continue to invest in reliability by speeding up the implementation of the Asset Performance Management (APM) system and executing specific action plans to build up teams and improve systems for asset management, maintenance, and reliability.
Alongside this, CapEx plans will be subject to careful review, especially as regards scheduling, seeking to reduce projects in 2025 by approximately EUR 40 million, prioritizing those under the Resilience and Recovery program and those offering higher rates of return. Lastly, we will address our commercial strategy and market diversification by ruling out economic products, being more aggressive with low-end products in the face of the current economic situation, while protecting the margins and volumes of premium products. With a positive perspective following the decisions of the European Commission on 24th of April 2025, and ERP, the Energy Regulatory Portal on 22nd of July, a revised GRIF third-party access tariff for electric-intensive customers has been set. Navigator installations in high and medium voltage will benefit from a relevant discussion on those tariffs between May and December 2025.
In addition, with approval of increased support for indirect CO2 costs in Portugal through the Environmental Fund. This support, we must say, has been both delayed and very modest, especially when compared to the more substantial measures provided to our competitors in several other European countries, notably in Spain, in France, in Germany, and in Finland. Business diversification and innovation in products remain at the heart of Navigator's strategy, especially in the tissue and packaging segments, where there is still great potential for growth. Thank you.
Thank you, António, for your insightful presentation. We are now open for the Q&A session.
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the Q&A session. If you'd like to ask a question, please press star five on your telephone keypad. If you change your mind, please press star five again. Please ensure that your device is unmuted locally before proceeding with your question. Our first question comes from Cole Hathorn from Jefferies. Please go ahead.
Good afternoon. Thanks for taking my question. I'd just like to follow up on your office paper business. In a challenging demand environment, you've done exceptionally well. I'm just wondering, on your commercial strategy, how did you maintain the stronger operating rates of 87% versus the industry? Was this a real focus on the economic products to keep your operating rate elevated? I'm just wondering commercially how you drove the better operating rates in uncoated wood free. I'm also just wondering, sticking to Europe, was there also something around one of your competitors or some of your competitors dropping the ball commercially? Just wondering if it's a bit of both.
Okay. Thank you for your question. I'm trying to rephrase it just to make sure you fully understand them. I will give some elements to the answer, and then I'll ask Quirino to follow up. Your first question is focused on office papers, and you realize that our results are quite resilient under the present situation, and you'd like to understand how this resilience can be explained vis-à-vis our European competitors. Is this right?
That's correct.
Okay. The second question is if you believe that some of our European competitors have dropped the ball under the same context. I understand.
Yes.
Okay. I will give you some elements of answer, and then Quirino will follow up with more details. For the first question, I think there is not a silver bullet. We didn't perform one single action that allows us to be significantly more resilient than our competitors. First and probably foremost, we have a unique product quality that is second to none to anybody else in the world, and we have very, very strong brands. I think, again, this quarter, our quality has proven to be very differentiated from our competitors. In an environment where people consume less products, they probably can afford to choose better products. At the same time, our brands have a very large recognition in the world, particularly in the markets where we are in. The second element, I think, is related with our sustainability practices and our sustainability reputation.
We didn't see, and we are not seeing any drawback, any decrease on sustainability when choosing papers, namely office papers and printing and writing papers. We have sustainability credentials that we show, we prove, we demonstrate, again, second to none in the globe. The third element is probably related with our geographic spread. We are very much present in the five corners of the world, if you will, with a strong presence in Europe, but a growing presence outside Europe, which I think also Quirino demonstrated. I will stop you on the first question. I'll ask Quirino to complement what I've mentioned, and namely can also explain how economic products have helped us to support the high end.
Absolutely. Thanks for the question. I think António mentioned the key points. We see a strong resilience on our premium and branded offering products in the market. This is related with the fiber and the quality of the products, which is very appreciated in the market. I think this is really, as António mentioned, a strong element to the answer.
Absolutely.
The other one is in geography. Actually, our coverage of around 130 countries in the world provides, contrary to some of our smaller competitors in Europe, an insurance, let's say, because we are covering several regions. We take profit from local regional growth. We did see the Americas, both in North America and Latin America, quite positive for us as well. Don't forget that we saw this year also a decrease in imports into Europe, which was also helping the European industry to find some space. Your question relates to our comparison to Europeans. Imports is not an element to answer this, but it helps everyone, I would say. I would just comment on what I mentioned before on the dual pricing strategy, where we continue to protect more the price, decreasing less the prices on the premium and branded products.
We went more strongly into the economy market with our partners, supporting them on their needs of economy products now that imports are reduced. This increased penetration in economy products also boosted our operating rates compared to European means.
Regarding your second question, I think we can— Sorry?
No, thank you. Go ahead.
Regarding your second question, I think we can concur with you. What we have seen so far is exactly in a market where demand is shrinking, in some regions more than others. We see a significant amount of competitors leaving this market, either leaving to other markets or just, as you said, dropping the ball. This was the case clearly in the States, as we mentioned, with one large mill announced for this year. They actually already stopped, and another one pre-announced for next year. We had the same towards the end of last year and early this year in Europe. Without naming competitors, I think we can keep on seeing the same pattern.
If you just look to the results and keeping the geography around Europe, if you just look to the results of our European competitors in Q2 and Q1 this year, I think it's easy to understand that some of these companies will never be viable. In a market that is going down in terms of demand and lacking strong elements of competitiveness, I think it's a question of time before we see others keep on reducing capacity. Quirino.
Nothing to add.
Maybe just as a follow-up, your cash costs you have on slide 14, your cash costs going down 19% quarter- on- quarter. That's a very big reduction in cash costs. We've seen some of the Nordic players talk about lower wood costs. We've seen some easing of wood costs after a rally in wood costs, but most people are talking about an easing of costs into 2026. I was just surprised to see cash costs coming down so much for Navigator . I'm just wondering if you could give a little bit more color of what drove the lower cash costs. Is it wood? Is it just better operating rates? Is it your own self-help initiatives to reduce chemical energy consumption? Any color would be helpful.
Okay. If I understand correctly, you'd like us to give a bit more color on the cash cost reduction, correct?
Yes.
The cash cost decreased in all different segments. They have decreased in pulp, they have decreased in uncoated free and packaging, and they have decreased in tissue. The ones that you mentioned that are in our slide 14 are specifically referring to pulp. Let me add the following. I think probably we have a couple of elements here. One, as we have seen, our cash costs on pulp are at the level of 2021. It is a significant reduction on 2021. Having said that, we had an increase of cash costs in Q1. We are comparing Q3 with Q1 where we had higher cash costs. At the time we explained, this was mainly related with energy and chemicals. The different elements that you have mentioned, they all play a part here in the reduction.
I think we can also say that in between September and January this year, our pulp cash costs dropped 20%. You see the big impact that we are trying to have on cash cost control. What are the main elements? For sure, energy and chemicals that have a bigger impact on the first quarter of the year. Also, wood is mainly by managing wood origins, by managing the sources of wood. We have managed to keep in control fixed costs. Of course, when your operating rates are improving, you have also an efficiency element on it. I will pass to Fernando if he wants to add something.
Perhaps on the fixed costs that is on the payroll side, at the beginning of the year, the expectations for the year were higher than the ones that we have now. Part of our payroll expenses are related with the performance of the company. This means it's also some justification for the decline in the cash costs in the period. Related to direct costs, it's like António said, the energy, chemicals, and wood. Part of it, it's price, and part of that, it's management, the proportion of wood available from different sources and trying to be more efficient on the operational side.
Following up the comments from Fernando, let me just add one thing about HR, which is we took the decision already in the second quarter. We announced it when we presented the second quarter results, a freeze in recruitment. We are managing our operations with, I would say, a more limited number of people, which is a challenge because in some areas, we are building new equipment, we are building new operations, we are growing. In some other areas, we are not. We are balancing people in between different operations to keep HR costs under control, besides what Fernando also mentioned.
Thank you.
Next question comes from Bruno Bessa from CaixaBank BPI. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Hello. Thank you for taking my questions. I have three, if I may. The first one, you mentioned an improvement in terms of your backlog for Q4. Just wondering whether this is a pure seasonal effect or if there is an upturn in terms of demand that is above the usual pattern in Q4. This will be the first question. The second question regarding paper prices. In the last cycle, you controlled quite well the price level because you and your competitors reduced the average capacity utilization rate. My question is, why aren't you doing the same this time around? What has changed in the market for you not to follow the same strategy this time? The third question, we saw a relatively weak quarter on volumes in the tissue business falling on a year-on-year basis.
Just trying to understand what is behind this, if there is any kind of one-off impact in terms of production, and what are your expectations for the upcoming quarter? Thank you very much.
Okay. Thank you. Again, for the sake of clarity, I'm going to try to rephrase the questions, and I will give some elements of answer. I've asked my colleagues to help on replying. Your first question is about the improvement of backlog. I think you are referring to uncoated wood free, and you'd like to understand if this is demand or purely a seasonal effect?
Correct.
Okay. Thank you. Your second question is that you believe that previously this industry had a better discipline on pricing, and you try to understand what is happening right now?
That's correct.
The third question is about tissue. You saw, according to what you were expecting, weaker volumes on Q3, and you'd like to understand if this is one-off impacts or any issue regarding our mills.
That's it.
Okay. I will give elements of answer for the three questions. For the first two, I would then ask Quirino to follow up, and for the third, I will ask Nuno also to comment. Starting with backlog improvement, a very quick comment, and Quirino will detail it much more than myself. This is much more than a seasonal effect. We are actually conquering, if you will, market share, and I think we have shown that in one of the slides. We are conquering market share in order to take. Quirino can elaborate a bit more why we are doing that, but some elements of answer are already being given, namely by enlarging our product offer with adding new, not new, adding products that we didn't have before. On paper prices, I think we agree with you. We see the same.
We see that the discipline of the market this time was not at the level that was before. We, as a market leader, tried to keep prices and provide actually an umbrella for prices where the majority of our competitors could protect themselves, but they chose not to do. They chose to, in spite of that, to lower prices. Of course, we are also reacting, namely with low-end products. Look, I'm not sure if I mentioned this in one of these calls, but I mention this very often. There is a very famous sentence from Robert Crandall. Robert Crandall was the CEO of American Airlines after the liberalization, and he said the airline industry was run by the dumbest competitor. I think this applies also to pulp and paper.
I mean, no matter the efforts that we, as a market leader, do to protect prices, some of our competitors, I guess, out of desperation, I go back to the first question that was raised by our colleague from Jefferies. Out of desperation, they just give up, drop wall, I think was the expression, and decrease prices. Quirino, do you want to follow up, please?
Yes. On the backlog on Q4, it is indeed a bit seasonal, but more than seasonal. We see, first, we are getting more market share in deliveries, in sales, but what you see in backlog is actually our ability more recently to progress more in market share in ordering takes, which is a bit more forward-looking because these are orders to be delivered in the next few months. We are progressing on that. In the Americas, a bit in Europe as well, and in what we call the overseas markets, the North African and Turkish market, which also are picking up a little bit due to the opening of a network trend on the pulp prices that we mentioned. This is bringing more activity to the paper market as well.
On the prices, only to agree with what António said, with low pulp prices during a number of months in a row, with a portion, less now than in the past, but with a portion of players which are non-integrative, operating on average, our competitors were on average at a lower level. You listen for sure that on average, including us, the uncoated wood free industry in Europe was operating at 81%, slightly up from 80% last year, but we increased much more than the market. Our competitors are under a severe pressure. Probably that's the explanation over there.
Okay. Regarding your third question on tissue, also an introductory comment, and I'll pass to Nuno. First of all, no, we thank God we didn't have any issue in our mill, so no operational issue, no one-off impact. The economic situation across Europe is not great, across the world, particularly across Europe, and this affects tissue, obviously, like affects other grades, affects less tissue than other grades, but also affects tissue. We have been working on improving profitability, and we have decided to let down some cells that we believe are not profitable for our objectives. Nuno, do you want to follow up, please?
Okay, can you hear me? I hope so.
Yes.
Okay. No, basically, you said it all already. The market in tissue this year is slightly slower in terms of growth. I think we've said it versus last year, we have a 3%-4% growth rate in the market. This year, European market, Western market has been growing at around 0.3%, 0.4% growth rate, which is relatively small, reflects the economy. Some
tendency for some consumers to trade a bit on specs. Instead of buying three or four-ply products, they might choose a similar product, but with two plies or reduce a bit the kitchen rolls used at homes. This reflects the overall economic sentiment on one side. The second reason that António also mentioned, we want to have sustainable and healthy relationships for both sides, always with our partners and clients, and protect the long-term sustainability of the relationship. In some situations, it's better to drop a bit some volumes to protect the way we are able to serve those clients. This is what we've been doing. Nothing that is concerning for others.
Okay. Thank you very much. If I may just follow up on the first question about the demand for or in the backlog that you have. From what I understand, the improvement you are seeing is mostly driven by your market share gains more than an effective, healthier, and demand market at this stage, right?
The market in Europe in the latter part of these nine months is not significantly better than what it was in the beginning of the year. There is one positive impact, which is that the imports are, as it was mentioned back in the beginning, significantly decreasing. This also opens space for long-term strategic suppliers to our customers.
Understood. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, please be reminded that if you'd like to ask a question, you have to press star five on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from António Seladas, from AS Independent Research. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Hi. Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my questions. I have three. The first one is related with different dynamics between Europe and the U.S. regarding the crimson rating paper. The U.S. is coming down by 1%, and Europe, about 6%. What are the differences or why are these differences so large, taking into consideration that, I guess, the digitalization and all that stuff is more or less similar? The second question is related with saving costs at your U.K. tissue operation, if you can provide some color on it, and when we should start to see the results on the profit and loss account. The last question is related with there were some provisions on the third quarter from the figures that you released last week. I don't know if you can provide also some insights or explain why were these provisions. Thank you very much.
Antonio, I'm so sorry, but I think I can summarize the first two. I didn't at all get the third one. Can you please be so kind to say it again?
There were some provisions on your profit and loss on your third quarter figures in your third quarter results released last week. If you can explain why, what was the reason for the provisions.
Okay. I'm going to rephrase the questions just to make sure that we fully understand them. First one, you'd like to understand the different dynamics in between U.S. and Europe in terms of the downturn so far this year?
Yes, exactly. What explains the difference so big, so large?
Okay. The second one, if I understood correctly, is about our Tissue UK operation. By saving costs, I'm not sure if you were referring to synergies or if you're referring to our project to consolidate into a smaller number of installations.
It's the second one, in fact.
Second one, and the third one are provisions on the third quarter results, correct?
Correct.
Okay. I will give a quick comment on the first one. The probably second one, I will pass then to Nuno and Nuno. The third one, Fernando will answer you. The different dynamics. I think most likely we cannot justify what is happening in the NCO2 free market no longer by digitalization because I agree with you. If it was purely digitalization, the conversion will be more or less the same, and it is quite significant. Having said that, let's not forget that the market downturn started in the U.S. prior to Europe, a couple of years, three or four years prior to Europe. In the U.S., for probably quite some time, we see more an asymptotic behavior of demand. I think the main explanation for this difference is the economic dynamics in between the U.S.A. and Europe. I will leave Nuno to comment further.
I think just the same. If you think on the data between 2019 and 2025, if you compare 2019 with 2025 and you average the average percentual increase in the market, the annual, the compound annual growth rate is actually quite the same. It's 5.5% in North America per year from 2019- 2025 with COVID in the middle and all of that. Europe as well, 5.5%. As you mentioned, António, there is a matter of timing where the U.S. started to decline much before, and now it's more an asymptotic with 1% increase.
Regarding the cost savings in tissue by consolidating the operation, and before passing to Nuno, just to remember, we are doing this with an ongoing operation in five sites. We are not buying new machines. This process is a process that is relatively slow because we need to make sure that we do not let our customers down. We can only migrate the machines when we are able to reshuffle production in such a way that we keep on supplying our customers in a continuous way. This also implies a reduction of the number of people, and in some cases, a reduction, which is the most expensive. In some other cases, people moving from one site to the other.
If this takes people into consideration, you have from one side our concerns with people, like a company that is very much concerned with each HR, and also we have consultation processes with the employee representatives. The process already started. It started around August and is going to take significantly more than one year. Nuno.
Yes. I think it might be worth stating, even though that's not exactly the objective of your question, but we are a.ddressing both fixed costs and structural costs, but also variable costs in the U.K. operation. We have, since we acquired the company last year, been performing a revision and a redesign of all cost items. Our paper costs are going down significantly, but also, let's say, the packaging materials, logistics, etc. That's one big element that we are working on. Second, as António mentioned, we are working on the fixed costs. First, of course, Accrol, as you know, as you remember, was floated in the market. We took out a lot of PLC costs and excess costs that a company that was independent and directly floating in the U.K. market required. Now, we have started, as it was announced, the process of restructuring and consolidation of our sites.
We've just started. It's planned to last until last year. We will again optimize the cost structure of the company, and we will do this in order to have one of the most competitive and most efficient operations in the U.K. In addition to that, something that we are working also in parallel, let's call it the third element of it, is increasing productivity of our lines and of our plants. For you to have an idea, efficiency when we started and the company joined Navigator one year ago, one year and a half ago, was around the OEE of the operation was around 30%-35%. Since then, we have already improved it to 45%. This is a technical industrial measure KPI, but it's worth mentioning that productivity on the lines, the production lines, has also increased significantly over the last 16 months.
Overall, we're working on all of these elements.
Fernando, the third one.
About the provision, the provision has two elements. One element is the fact that we've dismissed some people at the U.K., and that represents more or less 20% of the value. The remaining value regards a difference with a supplier in our investment phase that is asking extra works and things like that. He starts a retriage process. Despite the fact if you lose, this will increase only the amount of investment. We have accounted as a provision because we have some tax benefits on that.
Okay. Thank you very much. Just a follow-up question regarding the different dynamics between the U.S. and Europe. Should we expect what kind of demand should we expect in Europe for next year? I don't know if you can share with us your ideas.
This is a $100 million question. First of all, we cannot share what we have, as this is competitive information. I think some of the elements that we gave you as an answer before can provide you an answer now. If we believe this is very much linked to the economy situation across Europe, if we are positive that the economy next year is going to be significantly better, I think we will see a significantly lower decrease. If we believe that the economy is going to be more or less at the same level, we will probably see more or less the same type of decrease.
Okay. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions from the conference call at this time. We will now proceed to read the first question from the webcast. The question comes from Jaume Rey Miró from GVC Gaesco. The question is, do you expect CapEx linked to ESG projects to keep these high levels we have seen in the last three years until you achieve these CO2 targets in 2035? Can we have a forecast in absolute terms for CapEx in general next year?
Okay. I'm going to give an introduction and then Fernando will follow up. ESG is not only decarbonization, but I understand that the main concern, and of course, also the main CapEx so far has been decarbonization. If you probably remember the slide in our presentation, slide number 10, and you see that emissions will be stable from 2026- 2030. We will drop vis-à-vis the reference year, which is 2018. In 2026, we expect to drop 55% out of the 86, and in 2030, 58% out of the 86. I'd say the large majority of the emission reductions is done. Purely on decarbonization, the large majority of the projects are behind us, which is why we are able to keep this level of emissions in the next four to five years.
Of course, we are always willing to look to opportunities to speed up the decarbonization, provided we find that the projects are value-added and they are value-added by themselves, or Europe makes available funds to increase decarbonization and we increase the value added by using those funds. In short, the large majority of the ESG investments dedicated to decarbonization, which is the largest part, I will say that that will be concluded by 2026 when we conclude the PRR, the new Next Generation EU funds. Fernando.
This means 2026, despite lower than the amount that we are expected to spend in 2025, it's still above our average investment. Our average CapEx is around EUR 100 million and EUR 120 million. This means from 2027 onwards, it's what we would expect.
Of course, without expansion CapEx. The PM3 expansion, which will be mainly in 2026 and using again grants from Next Generation EU funds, will be concluded by September 2026. We hope to be able to take the final investment decision on the tissue machine by the end of this year and also the impact in week 26 and 27. Fernando was referring to this whole part. 120 is, I'll say, the normal maintenance CapEx without expansion CapEx.
This ends our session. Thank you all for your time. As always, we are available for any additional clarification through our usual contacts. Have a great evening.