METSO TO DELIVER A WHEAT STRAW PARTICLEBOARD PLANT TO CHINA


Metso Corporation delivers a complete particleboard plant to Sichuan Guodong Construction Co., Ltd, in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China. The process will be the first of its kind in China as the plant uses wheat straw as raw material. The plant will improve the quality of a local air by reducing the need to burn waste straw. Value of the order is approximately EUR 13 million. The delivery is scheduled for the beginning of 2002.

Delivery includes the process design, all the main machinery for the process, process automation and the installation supervision of the straw particleboard plant. The plant utilizes wheat straw, which has considered to be a waste and disposed by burning. The capacity of the plant will be 50,000 cubic meters/year.

The ordered equipment will be delivered from Metso Panelboard's units in Nastola, Finland and Hannover, Germany.

Sichuan Guodong Construction Co., Ltd is a locally important constructor also manufacturing building materials. The new plant will produce particleboard to be used in the building and furniture industries.

Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. Corporation's fiber and paper technology business area, Metso Paper, is the world's leading supplier of technology, systems and equipment for the pulp, paper, converting and panelboard industries. Metso's other core businesses are divided between Metso Minerals (rock and mineral processing) and Metso Automation (automation and control technology). In 2000, the net sales of Metso Corporation were EUR 3.9 billion, and the personnel totaled approximately 22,000. Metso Corporation is listed on the Helsinki and New York Stock Exchanges.