HELSINKI, Finland, April 3, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Metso Paper USA (NYSE:MX), Inc. will open a new Service Center in the Stateline-Beloit, WI area. The Center is scheduled to be open in November 2001 and it will house 170 employees currently working out of the old facilities in Beloit. Total value of the investment is EUR 8.5 million.
The new Service Center will include alogistics center for the central distribution of spare parts and consumables, and the assembly and repair of certain components. In addition, it will have offices for engineering and service personnel, supporting field services, and upgrades of fiber and papermaking lines.
The Service Center will strengthen Metso Paper's capabilities in servicing former Beloit and Valmet equipment. Metso Paper acquired Beloit's paper machine service assets in May 2000. This access to a very large reference base is one key in Metso Paper's strategy for securing additional growth potential in aftermarket service and maintaining industry leadership.
The Metso Paper service network covers all the most important market areas in the world. It includes 41 service centers located in several European countries, North America, Australia, and Asia, and employs approximately 3,000 people.
Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Corporation's fiber and paper technology business area, Metso Paper, is the world's leading supplier of technology, systems and equipment for the pulp, paper, converting, and panelboard industries. Metso's other core businesses are divided between Metso Minerals (rock and mineral processing) and Metso Automation (automation and control technology). In 2000, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 3.9 billion, and the personnel totaled approximately 22,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.