M-REALS KIRKNIEMI MILL INVESTS IN NEW WINDER TO MEET DEMANDS OF WIDER HSWO PRESSES

M-real is investing €7million in a new winder at its Kirkniemi Mill, Finland, to meet the increasing quality standards and need for higher production efficiency set by new wider HSWO (heat-set web offset) printing presses. The new winder will be installed on paper machine line 1, producing Galerie Lite publishing paper, and represents the latest technology in winding.

“With the move to wider and faster presses, there is a requirement for consistent quality across larger reel widths and diameters, and at higher press speeds,” says Martti Savelainen, Mill Manager of M-real Kirkniemi. “By modernising our winding technology, we will be able to satisfy the future needs of our customers in reel dimensions and quality.”

Manufactured by Metso Paper, the new Winbelt type winder will be installed by January 2008.

Note to editors: Employing over 14,000 people, M-real is one of the leading paper companies in Europe. Through its worldwide sales network, M-real serves customers who mostly comprise publishers, printers, paper merchants, offices and carton printers and well-known consumer product companies M-real provides excellent wood fibre-based solutions for consumer packaging, communications and advertising end-uses. Together with its customers and partners, M-real develops solutions for demanding end-use, such as magazines, art books, brochures, direct mail, office papers, as well as packages for beauty and healthcare products, cigarettes, branded food and consumer electronics.

The company focuses on four core businesses: Consumer Packaging, Publishing, Commercial Printing and Office Papers. Map Merchant Group is M-real´s paper merchant.

Headquartered in Finland, M-real Corporation is listed on the OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange. Sales of the company in 2006 were EUR 5.6 billion. M-real is part of the Metsäliitto Group. With sales of EUR 8.5 billion, Metsäliitto Group is the eighth largest forest industry group in the world. www.m-real.com

For additional information, please contact:

Marjo Halonen,
VP Marketing Communications,
M-real Publishing

tel. +358 10 469 462
e-mail: marjo.halonen@m-real.com