Mondi has announced the closure of three more converting plants in Europe alongside price increases across its product range.
In its Q1 2026 trading update, the sustainable packaging and paper company revealed that market conditions in the first quarter of 2026 remained challenging, resulting in an underlying EBITDA of €212 million, including €8 million of forestry fair value gain, as against €214 million, including €1 million of forestry fair value gain, in the last quarter of 2025.
Last month, Mondi announced the closure of a further three converting plants comprising a consumer flexibles plant in Hungary and corrugated solutions plants in Poland and Germany. Together these closures will reduce headcount by 450 over the course of this year. This brings the total number of recently announced plant closures to six, with customers transferring to alternative plants in its network.
Significantly heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East further increased volatility in an already complex operating environment, despite having a limited direct exposure to the region. Across the business, Mondi has however experienced increased energy, raw materials, and logistics costs and is actively responding with pricing actions. While there is a customary lag, the multinational group expects the impact of these price increases to take full effect in the third quarter of this year.
The company further stated that following a recent reduction in wood prices in South Africa and assuming the market environment does not change significantly for the remainder of the year, the full-year forestry fair value gain for 2026 is expected to be nil.
Mondi Group CEO Andrew King comments, “Against a backdrop of challenging market conditions, sales volumes increased, although lower selling prices and latterly cost pressures linked to escalating geopolitical tensions, weighed on underlying EBIDTA.
“These pressures persist into the second quarter and we are taking pricing actions to mitigate their impact. While there is an inherent time lag, we expect these measures to take full effect in the third quarter.”
The group, however, remains focused on rigorous cost control, optimising production footprint, and cash flow management to navigate what it describes as a “complex operating environment.”
