Pesonen was appointed as UPM’s president and CEO in 2004, having previously served the paper group in several management positions since 1987.

The service contract of the president and CEO was revised in 2019 when the previous contract expired. The revised contract defined the terms and conditions, according to which Pesonen has continued his work in the role beyond his original retirement age of 60.

“In 2024 I will have served UPM as president and CEO for 20 years and spent a total of 37 years with the company. The announced timetable aims to secure the success of the strategic growth initiatives as well as business performance over the coming few years,” said Pesonen.

“However, it is also time to start planning for the next stage. The schedule also allows UPM’s board of directors sufficient time for implementing the succession planning process.”

UPM chairman of the board Björn Wahlroos added: “Jussi has done and continues to do fantastic work for UPM, for which we are truly grateful. We knew that this day would come, but regret his decision nevertheless.”

Last week UPM released strong financial results for its Q3 2022 period; its sales grew by 36% year-on-year from €2.52bn (£2.2bn) to €3.42bn while its comparable EBIT jumped by 84% from €424m to €779m.

In the first half of the year, production at UPM was significantly affected by strike action at its Finnish mills, which began in January and was not resolved until April.