RAUTE CORPORATION STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 16 March 2009 at 3.00 p.m. RAUTE CORPORATION'S EMPLOYEE NEGOTIATIONS CONCLUDED Negotiations at Raute Corporation in accordance with the Act on Co-operation within Undertakings on adjusting the company's operations to the continued lowered order book and the weak remaining market and demand situation, initiated on 30 January 2009, have been concluded. The negotiations comprised the salaried and senior salaried employees of the Finnish units, and the hourly workers of the Jyväskylä unit. Other personnel of Raute Corporation in Finland is covered by the negotiation result reached on 18 November 2008. According to the negotiation result, all salaried and senior salaried employees of the Finnish units will be temporarily laid off for a fixed period of at most 240 days, and a maximum of 60 salaried and senior salaried employees will be laid off until further notice. All lay-offs will be implemented flexibly according to workload in order to secure undisturbed customer service and competitiveness. The production activity of the Jyväskylä plant has been interrupted for the present and all hourly workers of the unit, altogether 14 persons, have been laid off until further notice. Raute Group employs altogether 573 persons, of which 437 work in Finland. RAUTE CORPORATION Tapani Kiiski President and CEO FURTHER INFORMATION: Mr. Tapani Kiiski, President and CEO, Raute Corporation, tel. +358 3 829 3560, mobile +358 400 814 148 Ms. Arja Hakala, CFO, Raute Corporation, tel. +358 3 829 3293, mobile +358 400 710 387 RAUTE IN BRIEF: Raute is a technology company serving the wood products industry worldwide. Its most important customers are the plywood and LVL industries. The company is one of the world's leading suppliers of mill-scale projects to these customer industries. The total service concept also includes technology services, with which Raute supports its customers throughout the entire life cycle of their investments. Raute's head office and main production plant are in Nastola, Finland. Its other production plants are in the Vancouver area of Canada, in the Shanghai area of China, and in Jyväskylä and Kajaani, Finland. Net sales in 2008 were EUR 98.5 million and the number of personnel 573. More information on the company can be found at www.raute.com. DISTRIBUTION: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd, main media, www.raute.com