OUTOKUMPU TO EXPAND VALUE-ADDED THIN GAUGE STAINLESS STEEL CAPACITY IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING MARKET
OUTOKUMPU OYJ STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE December 3, 2004 at 1.00 pm
OUTOKUMPU TO EXPAND VALUE-ADDED THIN GAUGE STAINLESS STEEL CAPACITY IN RESPONSE TO INCREASING MARKET DEMAND Outokumpus Board of Directors has today decided to invest some EUR 53 million in the Kloster stainless steel cold rolling mill in Sweden. The capital expenditure will spread over a two-year period with the majority to be spent in 2006. The investment will expand the mills overall capacity from 25 000 tonnes to 45 000 tonnes per year and enable the production of thinner and wider products, 0.12 mm and 1 050 mm respectively. The main components of the investment are a new cold rolling mill, bright annealing line and slitting line. The new capacity is scheduled to be in place by the end of 2006. "Kloster specializes in thin gauge stainless steels and its served market is growing even faster than the market for stainless steel in general. We supply directly to the end-user market and with this investment we will be able to respond to the increasing demand and also to the need of even thinner gauges. The expansion strengthens Outokumpus position in end-user applications and also serves as a value-adding outlet for the increased production from Tornio," says Pekka Erkkilä, President of Outokumpu Stainless. "Im pleased with the decision to go ahead with this investment that shows a very good rate of return." Kloster is part of the Outokumpu Stainless coil business. It is a very successful unit serving end-user customers in thin gauges. Currently its products are mainly used in plate heat exchangers, heating elements, flexible tubes, head gaskets and telecom applications. Klosters production consists of cold rolled and temper rolled materials and it employs some 200 people. Outokumpu is one of the leading producers of stainless steel. After the new capacity from the Tornio expansion, that will be fully available mid-2005, Outokumpu Stainless total annual melting capacity will be 2.75 million tonnes and cold rolling mill capacity 1.9 million tonnes. The main production facilities of Outokumpu Stainless are located in Finland, Sweden and Britain. For further information, please contact: Antti Närhi, President - Coil Products, tel. +358 9 421 5502, mobile +358 40 502 5588 Lars-Göran Jöbo, Senior VP - Coil Products Nyby/Kloster, tel. +46 16 349 283, mobile +46 70 695 8371 Hannele Öbrink, Communications Manager - Outokumpu Stainless, tel: +358 9 421 5547, mobile +358 400 492 751 OUTOKUMPU OYJ Corporate Management Eero Mustala Senior Vice President - Corporate Communications tel.+358 9 421 2435, mobile +358 40 504 5146 eero.mustala@outokumpu.com