Ahlstrom to invest in Tampere, Finland plant

Ahlstrom, a leader in high performance fiber-based solutions, announced today its decision to invest approximately EUR 2 million in production capacity expansion of filtration media at its Tampere, Finland plant. The investment further strengthens the plant's position as an important developer and manufacturer of advanced filtration media.
"This investment improves the plant's capability to supply advanced filtration materials for the demanding end use applications within transportation and air filtration. Both of these market areas offer us promising growth opportunities", states Jukka Moisio, President & CEO of Ahlstrom Corporation.
 
The investment is one step in the long-term development plan of Ahlstrom Tampere Oy. This development phase began in 2000, when the plant was transferred from the city center to the new industrial facility located in the outskirts of Tampere.
 
"The plant's focus will lay particularly on fully synthetic, multilayered nonwoven filtration materials that complement Ahlstrom's offering for the transportation sector. The investment project will commence immediately and is estimated to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2006. The investment does not directly increase the number of employees, but enables us to focus our offering on new, more demanding end use applications", says Raimo Piittala, the General Manager of Ahlstrom Tampere.
 
The Tampere plant is specialized in development and manufacture of high-performance filtration materials and selected technical nonwovens. The plant employs 65 persons and it is part of Ahlstrom's Filtration business area which belongs to the company's FiberComposites segment.
 
For further information, please contact:
 
Jukka Moisio, President & CEO, tel. +358 10 888 4700
Raimo Piittala, General Manager, Ahlstrom Tampere, tel. +358 3 246 3492 
 
Ahlstrom in brief
Ahlstrom is a leader in the development, manufacture and marketing of high performance fiber-based materials. Nonwovens and specialty papers, made by Ahlstrom, are used in a large variety of everyday products, e.g. in filters, wipes, flooring, labels, and tapes. The company has a strong market position in several business areas in which it operates, built upon the company's unique fiber expertise and innovative approach. Ahlstrom's 5,400 employees serve customers via sales offices and production facilities in more than 20 countries on five continents. In 2004, Ahlstrom's net sales amounted to EUR 1.6 billion. The company website is www.ahlstrom.com.