Ahlstrom invests in India, Italy and the USA
The new plant will manufacture a full range of spunmelt fabrics with a main focus on the medical fabrics market. The site also enables future expansions of Ahlstrom businesses in India. The new facility will be located in the Mundra Special Economic Zone in the western state of Gujarat and is expected to start production by the end of 2009.
"The investment in India is again a step ahead in Ahlstrom's global growth strategy, following the recent growth investments in Russia, Brazil and China, as well as in other regions", says Jukka Moisio, President and CEO of Ahlstrom Corporation.
Ahlstrom´s investment in Italy consists of a rebuild of one paper machine, PM4 at Ahlstrom's Turin plant, currently producing release base papers, to manufacture nonwovens for industrial applications. The line utilizing wetlaid technology will be operational during the spring 2009. It is targeted to serve customers within the construction and building industries.
To meet the fast growing demand in the USA, especially within the wind energy markets, Ahlstrom will double its production capacity for specialty glassfiber reinforcements. The capacity increase will be implemented in two phases by the end of 2011, and the total investment value is estimated to be approximately seven million Euros. /AA