Nonwovens and specialty papers producer Ahlstrom, is to invest into additional capacity in transportation filtration material at its site in Turin, Italy. The total investment is said to be approximately EUR 17.5 million and it will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2012.

Commenting on the investment today, Tommi Björnman, Executive Vice President, Filtration, said:

"We have been pleased to grow with our key customers and as a commitment to the filtration business we are expanding the operation with state of the art equipment. This is an important step in our global growth roadmap where we have strengthened our global platform first in Asia and now in Europe. We will also continue to keep our focus on the Americas - both North and South America - hence being a global supplier in the filtration market with a full offering of filter media."

Ahlstrom is a leading manufacturer of filtration materials with 11 production sites across four continents. The company acquired a transportation filtration material plant in Binzhou, China in September.