Stora Enso

Stora Enso's 737-year continuous operation (founded 1288 as copper mine) represents one of history's longest corporate succession chains: copper mining → forest industries → biomaterials. The company's €9 billion revenue (19,000 employees) demonstrates facilitation across centuries - each business stage created assets enabling the next. Mining capital funded forestry land acquisition; forestry expertise now enables renewable packaging materials that replace plastics. The €1.1 billion Oulu consumer board line (inaugurated 2025, 750,000 ton capacity) converts wood fiber into packaging reaching €800 million annual sales by 2027.

The biological mechanism is ecological succession with positive feedback. Early-stage copper extraction generated wealth that enabled land purchases during Sweden's forest boom. Those forest holdings became substrate for paper mills. Paper manufacturing expertise now facilitates biomaterials development - wood-based alternatives to fossil packaging. Like primary succession where pioneer species modify soil conditions enabling later colonists, each business iteration created infrastructure (capital, expertise, distribution networks) that subsequent iterations exploited. The 1998 Stora-Enso merger exemplified mutualistic fusion increasing resource base.

Market dynamics show both persistence and constraint. Stora Enso divested 175,000 hectares Swedish forest (12.4% of holdings) for €900 million September 2025 - capital reallocation from land to processing capacity. The Biomaterials division expects stable pulp demand with tightening supply driving prices, while overall markets remain subdued from low consumer confidence. Like organisms in fluctuating environments, Stora Enso's century-spanning survival reflects ability to undergo fundamental metabolic shifts when selection pressures demand reinvention. The company's three divisions (Biomaterials, Wood Products, Forest) maintain vertical integration from raw material to finished goods - controlling the entire trophic chain.