Metso Third-Quarter Orders Jump 28% on Strong Mining Demand

Metso Oyj reported third-quarter orders of €1.614 billion, up 28% from a year earlier, as mining customers increased spending on equipment and services amid firm copper and gold markets. Orders and backlog are moving well ahead of current sales, giving the company stronger revenue visibility into coming quarters.

The Finnish mining and aggregates equipment maker said orders for the quarter ended September 30 rose from €1.264 billion a year earlier. Organic order growth in constant currencies was 24%. Sales increased 3% to €1.373 billion, while adjusted EBITA rose 4% to €230 million. The adjusted EBITA margin was 16.8%, against 16.7% a year earlier.

The Minerals segment drove the gain, with orders up 34% to €1.323 billion. Within that business, equipment orders rose 79% and aftermarket orders increased 11%. Metso said grinding and crushing solutions were particularly strong. The quarter also included a €90 million copper-related order, though the company did not identify the customer, project, location or equipment scope in the material released.

President and CEO Sami Takaluoma said customer activity in mining remained high, supported by favorable copper and gold prices. Metso described order growth as broad-based across commodities, geographies and product areas, with small and medium-sized orders at a healthy level.

The backlog expanded to €3.883 billion at the end of September, up 20% from €3.239 billion a year earlier. The group book-to-bill ratio was 1.18, meaning new orders exceeded quarterly sales. In Minerals, book-to-bill was 1.26, and management said on the earnings call that segment backlog rose 21% to about €3.372 billion.

The gap between order growth and revenue growth is a central point for investors. Orders rose 28%, while reported sales increased only 3%. That means customer commitments are building faster than equipment can be delivered and recognized as revenue. It supports future sales visibility, but it does not show when the backlog will convert into revenue or at what margin.

Outside Minerals, Aggregates orders rose 4%, with equipment orders up 8%. Metso said European and North American markets drove the overall order growth.

Cash generation was weaker than profit growth. Cash flow from operations fell to €136 million from €266 million in the year-earlier quarter. The released material did not explain the decline.

For the first nine months of 2026, Metso reported orders of €4.632 billion, up 17% from €3.970 billion a year earlier. Minerals orders increased 21% over that period, while Aggregates orders rose 5%.

Management said larger orders can be difficult to time, but indicated that customer projects in the pipeline were advancing and that additional orders should begin arriving at a reasonable pace. For now, the third-quarter figures point to sustained mining investment, with copper and gold still underpinning demand for processing equipment.