Karelia to Expand Hardwood Production to Russia an
Kuopio, Finland, October 10, 2006--Karelia Corporation is planning to expand their hardwood flooring production to Russia and Romania, according to the IHB Network.
The company has examined for about a year the possibilities to start there an own production of three-layer hardwood flooring in the next few years.
The alternatives are still to start a green-field factory or to acquire an active production plant. Russia is an important export market for both Karelia and Upofloor hardwood floorings.
At present Karelia Corporation is also negotiating to acquire a Romanian hardwood flooring factory. It is aimed that the negotiations will be concluded until the end of this year and the production to be started in 2007. The factory is located in Transylvania, also close to raw material sources suitable for the production of hardwood floorings. The company aims to utilize the Romanian raw material sources also for their hardwood flooring productions in Finland.
The planned expansions will not affect the company’s activities in Finland. The products of the planned Eastern European production units are mainly aimed at improving the possibilities for additional sales on the growing Eastern European markets.
