Helsinki, Finland, March 18, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Paper will establish a service technology center in Brazil. The center, to be erected in Metso's joint premises in Sorocaba, Sao Paulo, will serve the needs of the pulp and paper industry. When the center is opened in early 2003 it will initially employ 50 people.
The service technology center will include facilities for roll service, spare parts operations, testing and customer training. In addition to supplying maintenance services, the center will also provide local support for new production line deliveries and rebuilds in South America. The center is part of the Metso Future Care concept whose goal is to maintain the competitiveness of customer processes throughout their lifecycle.
The considerable investments being made in infrastructure development in Brazil offer good growth opportunities for Metso. Recently, the country's pulp and paper industry has not only been modernizing, but also increasing, its production capacity. Metso Paper has been selected to supply pulping line and wood handling system, while Metso Automation has delivered numerous process automation and paper quality management systems. Brazil is a significant supplier of market pulp and the pulp industry is considering further investments.
Metso employs about 2,000 people in South America. The new service technology center to be established in Brazil is part of the Metso Paper Service product group, which employs 2,800 people in 43 service centers around the world.
Metso Corporation (NYSE:MX) is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems, as well as know-how and after-market services. The Corporation's core businesses are fiber and paper technology (Metso Paper), rock and mineral processing (Metso Minerals) and automation and control technology (Metso Automation). In 2001, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 4.3 billion and the personnel totaled approximately 30,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.