Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the presentation of Metsä Board's 2022 Q1 results. My name is Mika Joukio, and I'm the CEO of Metsä Board. With me here are CFO Henri Sederholm and Head of IR, Katri Sundström. Henri and I will go through this presentation, and we will then open the lines for your questions and further discussion. Let's begin by taking an overview of the first quarter. The strong momentum on the paperboard market continued, and our deliveries increased from the previous quarter, ending at 473,000 tons. Average sales prices for our paperboards have increased for four consecutive quarters, and they were up by 20% year-on-year. This was reflected in both the top line and profitability.
Our quarterly sales were EUR 582 million and comparable operating result EUR 122 million. Furthermore, comparable return on capital employed was above 21%, all record high figures again. As always, the Q1 did not include any major maintenance shutdowns, and production volumes were at a high level. In pulp and CTMP, we achieved new record highs, an excellent achievement given the weakened coronavirus situation and the larger number of infections among employees. Thanks to several precautionary measures, there have been no production interruptions. Henri will cover cost inflation in more detail, but I'd like to underline the rapidly increased logistics costs we have seen this year. This is a result of higher fuel prices and several bottlenecks in logistics around the world.
Finally, I would like to highlight our strong financial position with interest bearing net debt negative EUR 100 million. This supports our ongoing investments, which I will return to later. Russia's attack on Ukraine is creating uncertainty in the global economy and is also reflected in Metsä Board's business operations. Our exposure to Russia is derived from paperboard sales, wood sourcing, and the use of natural gas. In March, we discontinued all paperboard sales to Russia, and we are now reallocating those volumes to other markets. Reallocation opportunities are not limited by demand but rather by bottlenecks in the supply chain. In 2021, 5.6% of our total sales came from Russia, consisting mainly of folding boxboard sales to multinational brand owners. Metsä Group, responsible for our wood sourcing, has discontinued wood procurement from Russia.
Wood sourcing now focuses on the other existing regions, Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic countries. In 2021, roughly 9% of our total wood sourcing came from Russia and was mainly birch. In production, three out of our eight mills use natural gas imported from Russia. In the short term, we have explored alternatives to replace this with LPG and LNG, also gas or oil. In the long term, and according to our sustainability targets, all the energy we are using will be fossil-free by 2030. Here, the alternative energy sources could be electricity or biogas. To sum up, the war in Ukraine does have impacts on us, but our opportunities to cope with it through alternative operations are relatively good. So far, the financial impacts have been quite small.
The risks of inputs and raw material availability have certainly increased, and at least some extra costs can be expected going forward. Naturally, our great concern is for the people affected by the war and their survival. Now we move on to quarterly deliveries. Typically, Q1 delivery volumes increase from the Q4 levels. This time, they were almost 7% higher than in Q4. If we compare this to the level a year ago, deliveries decreased by 4%. This was not due to a fall in demand but our own capacity constraints. Our stock levels were low at the start of the year, and we have also gradually started to build up stocks for the ramp-up of Husum's new folding boxboard capacity in 2023. Now the split, delivery split by market area.
There were no major changes here except for the decline in folding boxboard deliveries due to the capacity limitations. The market situation in our main market, EMEA, remains tight. Demand exceeds supply, and the bottlenecks in logistics are also keeping imported volumes from Asia and Latin America lower than normal. In the Americas, and especially in the US, demand for both folding boxboard and white kraftliners has been strong. Inland supply chain problems have gradually eased, but cost levels have increased. Average selling prices have improved in all market areas. Now for the pulp market. For the time being, demand for long fiber market pulp is good in both Europe and China. At the same time, the global pulp supply has been reduced by several factors like bottlenecks in logistics, cost inflation in energy and chemicals, and other unplanned production shutdowns.
This imbalance between supply and demand has kept prices high. Now I let Henri tell you more about the factors affecting our profitability and financial position.
Thank you, Mika, and good afternoon. Let's first look at the big picture of the development of sales and the operating result. Our quarterly sales ended up at EUR 582 million, almost EUR 90 million higher than the same quarter last year. Our comparable operating result also improved significantly compared to any previous quarter at EUR 121 million. Operating margin during the Q1 was as high as 20.9%. These are all record figures. Here is the comparison with the same quarter last year. The most significant factor improving profitability was higher paperboard prices. Year-on-year average sales prices in euros improved by 20%. Market pulp prices also improved. During the Q1 , we sold emissions allowances worth EUR 7 million.
As we stated in the previous earnings call, we are planning to carry out the sale of unused emissions allowances more evenly throughout the year. On the negative side, the main burden came from cost inflation. The price level of chemicals and energy especially increased significantly from last year. The same development was seen in logistics. Higher pulp costs impacted the profitability of the standalone paperboard business, yet the overall impact from higher pulp prices was positive for Metsä Board. A small negative impact also resulted from lower delivery volumes of paperboard and FX after hedges. At the end of the review period, we completed the sale of our fully-owned subsidiary, Hangö Stevedoring, to Euroports Finland. The gain on the sale, EUR 19 million, was booked as an item affecting comparability.
Hangö Stevedoring is a port operator in the port of Hanko, and its business is not part of Metsä Board's core business. In 2021, its sales were EUR 22 million, and it had 187 employees. Now cash flow then, which also continued at a strong level. In January, March, operating cash flow was EUR 93 million. The difference from the corresponding period last year is mainly explained by the dividend receipt from Metsä Fibre, EUR 59 million. Last year, the dividend was zero. The comparable return on capital employed, which in the Q1 was as high as 21.1%, significantly above our target level of 12%. The 12-month rolling return on capital employed was 19.3%. Thanks to the strong cash flow, our net debt has remained zero or negative since the beginning of last year.
As a reminder, our dividend payment of EUR 146 million was paid at the beginning of April. The strong financial position supports our investment in sustainable growth, about which Mika Joukio will tell you more. Over to you, Mika Joukio.
Thanks, Henri. Let's give you an update on our ongoing investments. Compared to what we stated in our previous call in February, there are no major changes regarding the time schedules or costs of our ongoing investment projects. The first phase of the Husum pulp mill renewal is close to completion, and the new recovery boiler and turbine are expected to start in September. The investment will increase the mill's generation of renewable energy, and with the new Olkiluoto three nuclear power plant, Metsä Board's overall self-sufficiency in electricity will rise to 85%. During the Q1 , our total investments were EUR 107 million, including EUR 31 million of acquired businesses. For the full year of 2022, we expect them to be around EUR 300 million, which includes annual maintenance CapEx of EUR 50 million-EUR 60 million.
Now let's move on to the outlook. A strong demand for our sustainable paperboards continues. In the Q2 , we expect delivery volumes to remain stable. We expect average sales prices for both folding boxboard and white kraftliners to increase from the Q1 level. Demand for long fiber market pulp is expected to remain good in Europe and China. At the same time, the supply is restricted by various factors, including bottlenecks in logistics and unplanned production shutdowns. The Q2 will include more maintenance than the Q1 , with an estimated negative impact of EUR 10 million-EUR 15 million. Cost inflation continues, especially in energy and chemicals. Global challenges in the availability of transport equipment remain, increasing logistics costs. Based on these assumptions, we expect our comparable operating result in the Q2 to improve compared to the Q1 .
To summarize, the strong performance continued, and we again set several quarterly records in sales, production, and profitability. The result was improved in particular by higher sales prices. Demand for sustainably produced fresh fiber paperboards was strong, and we expect this to continue. We are seeing no major changes in the demand-supply balance, which also supports the favorable outlook. We expect cost levels to remain high. Logistics costs especially are expected to increase due to higher fuel prices and bottlenecks in global transport. Russia's attack on Ukraine has had and will have impacts on Metsä Board's operations. We have taken steps to replace our Russian-related businesses in the sale of paperboards, as well as in the procurement of wood and natural gas. With that, we end now our presentation and are ready for your questions. Thank you very much.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you have a question for the speakers, please press zero one on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from the line of Mikael Doepel of UBS. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good afternoon, everybody. Couple of questions, first of all, on folding boxboard volumes. If I read your slide correctly, those were still down on a year-over-year basis despite correcting for the equipment failure. My question there, is that correct? And why, given the strong demand? I could also see that folding boxboard volumes to the Americas were down on a year-over-year basis, and I guess the same question there, why is that?
Okay. It's actually a very clear reason. This year, in the beginning of this year, our stock levels, so inventories, were clearly lower than a year ago due to the fact that we have maintenance shutdowns in Q4 and also some investment shutdowns like Äänekoski and Kyro. For that reason, the stocks were lower, inventories were lower, and then we were able to deliver more even though there were a good demand for that. Pretty much same reasons for folding boxboard in general and then in the US. You're you are right by saying that the volumes were lower, especially in folding boxboard.
Right. Going into Q2 and into the rest of the year, would you expect that trend to change, or not?
Yeah, in Q2, our estimation is that the volumes will remain pretty much similar as in Q1. Our production has been full in Q1, and then in Q2, we have more maintenance shutdowns. But the estimation is that volumes will be pretty much similar on the same level as in Q1. Then also we need to remember that we are already now building stocks concerning the Husum investment next year, so we need to also now prepare for that.
Yes, of course, that makes sense. Continuing on folding boxboard, on pricing, you say that pricing is moving up into Q2. We know that there are shorter price contracts in the U.S. We've seen price increases and gains there. In Europe, you at least previously had a lot of annual contracts. I'm just wondering if there is any change to the European contract structure now, given the, what I guess you could call a volatile market. Have you gone to shorter contracts and perhaps also applied some energy surcharges here to the pricing in Europe?
Not remarkably. It's pretty much similar situation this year in Europe compared to last year, if you think about how long agreements we have. They are normally annual deals with brand owners. Wherever it has been possible, we have been able to increase the prices, and of course we have also then sent these price increase letters to these brand owner customers, even though we have fixed prices for this year, but in order for them to kind of understand what to expect then at the end of the year.
Right. Right. Okay. Well, that makes sense. Just a final one on wood supply. Just wondering how you see that developing going forward. You're not sourcing from Russia anymore. Where can you find more wood? Can you source more in Finland, or somewhere else? Also how do you expect this to impact pulpwood costs?
We will replace those volumes by sourcing them from Finland, Sweden, and the Baltic countries. We have possibilities to increase volumes in Finland and Sweden and then sourcing more from Baltics. I don't see this as a major problem for us.
Is it putting upward pressure on pricing?
At least not yet here in Finland and Sweden, no. Maybe you can see something in Baltics, but not here.
Okay. That's very clear. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Just to remind everyone, if you wish to ask a question, please press zero one on your telephone keypads. It seems we have no questions on the line at this time. Please go ahead, speakers.
Okay. If there are no further questions, then of course I thank you all for your participation and wish you a good continuation of the day. Thank you.