The business said in a statement released today (16 October) that these were “extraordinary actions with the objective to optimise cash flow” and that a decision has been made to not postpone quarter end payments to suppliers going forward.

Postponed invoice payments have now been made, it confirmed.

Hans Sohlström, president and CEO at Stora Enso, said: “We value our suppliers, which are central to our operations and our success, and regret any possible impact or inconvenience that these extraordinary actions may have had on them and their business.

“Our values are to lead and do what’s and right and we are committed to foster a culture of openness and integrity, in everything we do.”

The cash flow effect of the one-week end of the quarters postponed payments has been on average €70m (£58.6m), which represents approximately 4% of the accounts payable. The company said this is not material in relation to Stora Enso’s total cash flow and liquidity.

The situation came to light earlier this week when, on Monday (14 October), Swedish financial newspaper Dagens Industri published an article stating that Stora Enso made a decision to postpone weekly supplier payment runs in the last weeks of June and September 2024 by one week in order to improve the company’s cash flow.

Stora Enso confirmed in a statement published later that day “that such decisions have been made with the intent to optimise its cash flow”.

It added suppliers had been informed on a case-by-case basis about the one-week payment delay.

Stora Enso makes renewable materials and products including paperboard and bio-based materials, and wooden construction materials.

The company has approximately 20,000 employees and its sales in 2023 were €9.4bn (£7.9bn). It will publish its Q3 interim report for 2024 on 24 October.

Last month, Stora Enso resumed harvesting at environmentally sensitive sites in Finland after an August incident that saw thousands of endangered mussels killed by forestry machinery.