Little damage from fire at Componenta Alvesta

Little damage from fire at Componenta Alvesta A fire occurred in the melting shop at the Componenta Alvesta foundry today in the morning. The fire started when hot iron that had dropped from the furnace keeping the molten metal hot set on fire objects on the foundry floor including two forklift trucks. The entire foundry and the adjacent offices were evacuated but personnel were soon able to return to their work places. The fire brigade quickly brought the fire under control and the fire was restricted to one part of the foundry. Thanks to the quick action of personnel and the fire brigade the fire caused no injuries to personnel. The material damage caused was very little. Today was to be the last day of production at the Alvesta foundry and all production planned to carried out there has been done. The machinery and equipment being transferred from the Alvesta foundry to Karkkila were not damaged in the fire. The finished products, patterns and raw material stocks were also undamaged. Componenta announced in October 2003 that the operations of the Alvesta foundry were being terminated in the spring of 2004 and that the foundry's production would be transferred to the upgraded foundry in Karkkila. Operations at the Alvesta foundry will cease by the end of May. Sales personnel and a few other people will remain at the foundry premises to send products in stock to customers. Helsinki, 18 May 2004 COMPONENTA CORPORATION Heikki Lehtonen President and CEO FURTHER INFORMATION: Heikki Lehtonen President and CEO tel. +358 9 225 021, +358 50 1311 Lauri Huhtala Director, Foundries, Scandinavia tel. +358 9 225 021, +358 50 581 0223 [REMOVED GRAPHICS] Componenta is a metal sector company with international operations and production plants located in Finland, Netherlands and Sweden. The total net sales of Componenta and De Globe acquired in March 2004 exceeded EUR 259 million in 2003 and the group employed about 2,200 people. Componenta's shares are quoted on the Main List of the Helsinki Exchanges. The group's customers operate in the heavy truck, off-road, power and transmission and machine building industries. Componenta specializes in supplying ready-to-install cast, geared and machined components directly to the customer's assembly line. Componenta Corporation Nuijamiestentie 3 C FIN-00400 Helsinki , Finland Tel. +358 9 225 021 Fax +358 9 2250 2721 http://www.componenta.com ------------------------------------------------------------ This information was brought to you by Waymaker http://www.waymaker.net The following files are available for download: http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/18/20040518BIT00600/wkr0001.doc http://www.waymaker.net/bitonline/2004/05/18/20040518BIT00600/wkr0002.pdf