Stora Enso has signed a joint-venture agreement with Shandong Huatai Paper
STORA ENSO OYJ Stock Exchange Release 25 April 2006 at 10.30
Stora Enso has signed a joint-venture agreement with Shandong Huatai Paper Stora Enso has signed an agreement with Shandong Huatai Paper to form a publication paper company. As announced on 28 October 2004, Stora Enso and Shandong Huatai Paper have been conducting a feasibility study concerning publication paper production in China. The agreement establishing the joint venture, in which Stora Enso will hold 60% of the share capital, is subject to approval by the Chinese authorities. The joint venture's paper machine at Dongying in Shandong province in China is planned to have an annual production capacity up to 200 000 tonnes of super-calendered (SC) magazine paper and other publication paper grades based on recovered fibre. Dongying city is located between Beijing and Shanghai. The total investment of the joint venture is estimated to be approximately USD 100 million (EUR 83 million) of which Stora Ensos share is 60%. Assembly of the production line will start in mid 2007, depending on the permission process. The production of the paper machine, which is expected to start up in late 2007, will be utilised to satisfy the growing market for offset printing papers in China. Key components of the joint-venture equipment are to be sourced from a machine formerly at Stora Ensos Maxau Mill in Germany. The key strategic aims for Stora Enso are to strengthen our market position in the core product segment of publication paper, to grow with our key customers and to continue expanding in new growth markets such as China. Our co-operation with Huatai Paper, the leading producer of newsprint in China, will open up new business segments for Stora Enso in China, says Stora Ensos CEO Jukka Härmälä who signed the agreement in the presence of Finlands Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen. Shandong Huatai Paper Co. Ltd, is a company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange with sales of EUR 290 million in 2005. It is part of the Huatai Group, which is involved in paper manufacture, the chemicals industry, printing, energy, forestry, logistics and trading. The Huatai Group has over 10 000 employees, including about 4 470 at Huatai Paper. All of the companys paper and board manufacturing assets are located in Shandong province and its annual production capacity is 1 200 000 tonnes of paper and board. For further information, please contact: Bernd Rettig, Senior Executive Vice President, Stora Enso Publication Paper, tel. +49 211 581 2310 Markku Pentikäinen, Executive Vice President, Corporate Technology and Asia Pacific, tel. +86 13 76 43 00 175 Kari Vainio, Executive Vice President, Corporate Communications, tel. +44 7799 348 197 Keith B Russell, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations, tel. +44 20 7016 3146 www.storaenso.com www.storaenso.com/investors Some previous press releases concerning Stora Ensos activities in China available at www.storaenso.com/press: - 3 April 2006: Corenso expands in China - 29 March 2006: Stora Enso to sign an agreement for co-operation with UNDP China - 10 November 2005: Stora Enso strengthens its presence in Guangxi - 10 June 2005: Stora Enso signs loan agreement with International Financing Corporation - 31 March 2005: UNDP to Assess Environment and Social Impact of a Forestry Investment Project in Guangxi, China - 28 October 2004: Stora Enso joint venture in China - 4 February 2004: Stora Enso to modernise its fine paper machine at Suzhou, China STORA ENSO OYJ p.p. Jussi Siitonen Jukka Marttila