HELSINKI (AP) -- Stora Enso Oyj will invest $370 million (€285 million) in expanding container board production at a plant in Poland to meet increasing European demand, the paper maker said Tuesday.
The company's share price jumped more than 2.5 percent to €8.04 ($10.37) in afternoon trading in Helsinki.
Stora said the project is expected to be completed in 2013 and will increase the Ostroleka mill's annual capacity to 455,000 tons, from 270,000 tons.
"Strengthening our competitive position in corrugated packaging in the growing markets of central and eastern Europe is at the core of our growth strategy," CEO Jouko Karvinen said.
The Finnish-Swedish company said that transport packaging markets in the region "have grown and will continue to grow by over 5 percent per year" and that the investment will increase Stora Enso's self-sufficiency in container boards from 35 percent to 60 percent.
The group has 20 corrugated packaging plants in Finland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic states producing 1.3 billion square meters (14 billion sq. feet) of corrugating packaging materials. Last year, they used 560,000 tons of container board.
Stora Enso is one of the world's largest forest product companies, making magazine paper, newsprint, fine paper, pulp and packaging boards. It employs 27,400 people.
The company's share price jumped more than 2.5 percent to €8.04 ($10.37) in afternoon trading in Helsinki.
Stora said the project is expected to be completed in 2013 and will increase the Ostroleka mill's annual capacity to 455,000 tons, from 270,000 tons.
"Strengthening our competitive position in corrugated packaging in the growing markets of central and eastern Europe is at the core of our growth strategy," CEO Jouko Karvinen said.
The Finnish-Swedish company said that transport packaging markets in the region "have grown and will continue to grow by over 5 percent per year" and that the investment will increase Stora Enso's self-sufficiency in container boards from 35 percent to 60 percent.
The group has 20 corrugated packaging plants in Finland, Sweden, Russia, Poland, Hungary and the Baltic states producing 1.3 billion square meters (14 billion sq. feet) of corrugating packaging materials. Last year, they used 560,000 tons of container board.
Stora Enso is one of the world's largest forest product companies, making magazine paper, newsprint, fine paper, pulp and packaging boards. It employs 27,400 people.