Metsäliitto Cooperative’s Supervisory Board (Finland) at its meeting this past week appointed Ilkka Hämälä CEO, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Hämälä starts as the president and CEO of Metsä Group on April 1, 2018. 

Kari Jordan, president and CEO since 2006, is responsible for Metsä Group’s result until the end of 2017, and will retire on April 1, 2018.

Hämälä, M.Sc degree in engineering, has worked for Metsä Group since 1988. Since 2008, he has been the CEO of Metsä Fibre Oy and a member of the Metsä Group Executive Management Team.

Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy, utilizing renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. The company focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fiber paperboards, and tissue and cooking papers. Metsä Group’s sales totaled EUR 4.7 billion in 2016, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. The Group operates in some 30 countries. Metsäliitto Cooperative, the parent company of Metsä Group, is owned by approximately 104,000 Finnish forest owners.