Ahlstrom Group yesterday celebrated the inauguration of its new facility in Binzhou, Shandong province, in north-eastern China. The plant produces transportation filtration materials and currently employs 170 people. Ahlstrom acquired the plant from Purico Group which it announced earlier this month.

According to Ahlstrom's President & CEO Jan Lång the acquisition plays a significant role in Ahlstrom's growth strategy in Asia.

"In addition to Ahlstrom´s strong footprint in Europe and the Americas, we have lately started to establish a solid manufacturing platform in Asia as well. Ahlstrom´s strengthened presence in China will also help us to better serve our global customers based in the area, increase our market share and build a platform for further growth in the region.

"As China is among the world's fastest growing major economies and the industry of filtration media for transportation is growing at an annual rate of over 10%, the market in the country is expected to grow significantly in the coming years", Jan Lång says.

In addition to the Binzhou plant, Ahlstrom has three other manufacturing sites in Asia: one in Hyun Poong, South Korea, one in Mundra, India, and one in Wuxi, China. The Hyung Poong plant also manufactures filtration materials for automotive industry where as the Mundra plant produces nonwoven fabrics for the medical market and the Wuxi site for dust filtration.

In addition to the manufacturing plants, Ahlstrom has sales offices in nine major cities in Asia. Altogether, Asia currently accounts for about 10% of the Group's net sales.