Metsä Group can trace its origins back to 1934, when Metsäliitto Oy was established by the Finnish forest owners so that they could increase the sale of small wood and their financial position. Metsäliitto became a cooperative in 1947, and at the same time, the industrial operations started through own sawmill business. During the next decades, the group started internationalisation and expanded its production briskly in Finland and abroad.