What caused the sharp decline in IP's operating profit in Q3 2024?

The sharp decline in International Paper's (IP) operating profit in Q3 2024 can be attributed to a combination of factors: 1. **Volume Decline and Rising Costs**: Despite previous price increases, the company anticipated a downturn in earnings due to a decline in volume and rising costs. This suggests that the decrease in operating profit is partly due to lower sales volumes and increased operational expenses. 2. **Maintenance Outages**: The expectation of higher maintenance outage expenses is likely to impact profitability negatively, as such expenses are incurred but do not generate revenue. 3. **Input Costs**: Higher input costs, particularly energy-related expenses, are expected to decrease earnings by approximately $30 million. This indicates that the cost of raw materials and energy has increased, squeezing profit margins. 4. **Operations and Costs Increase**: The anticipated increase in operations and costs is expected to decrease earnings by approximately $80 million in Q3. This could be due to increased labor costs, logistics expenses, or other operational inefficiencies. 5. **Global Cellulose Fibers Segment Challenges**: While the Global Cellulose Fibers segment is expected to be relatively flat in Q3, the segment is also anticipated to face challenges such as volume decline and operations and costs increase, which are likely to impact profitability. In summary, the sharp decline in IP's operating profit in Q3 2024 is primarily due to a combination of volume decline, rising costs, maintenance outages, input costs, operations and costs increase, and challenges in the Global Cellulose Fibers segment. These factors collectively contribute to a significant decrease in profitability for the period.