HELSINKI, Finland (AP) -- Finnish paper maker UPM-Kymmene Corp. has opened a new labelstock plant in Dixon, Illinois, as part of a euro270 million (US$420 million) global program to expand label manufacturing.
The US$100 million (euro65 million) factory, run by the Helsinki-based company's label division, UPM Raflatac, will produce pressure-sensitive paper and film self-adhesive products, UPM-Kymmene said Thursday.
''The Dixon factory is one of the key strategic investments we have made to increase our capabilities and build capacity in North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region,'' UPM Raflatac president Heikki Pikkarainen said.
The Helsinki-based forest products group described the new plant as ''the most innovative labelstock production and distribution facility in the industry.''
UPM Raflatac is a leading global maker of self-adhesive label materials and develops radio frequency identification tags and inlays. It employs some 2,700 people at 12 factories worldwide.
UPM, the world's largest magazine paper maker, employs 29,000 people worldwide, with annual net sales of euro10 billion (US$14 billion) in 2007.
