STOCKHOLM - Ahlstrom is ramping up its activity in South America's filtration sector with a €2 million investment in a new laminator at its plant in Louveira, Brazil. With a planned installation in 2023, the equipment is expected to be fully operational by the first quarter of 2024.
This strategic growth initiative will expand manufacturing capabilities at Louveira plant while also reinforcing the company's ambition in local and regional filtration markets by offering customers shorter lead-times and improved local technical support.
“Along with optimizing the logistic workflow, the new unit will enable us to be closer to our customers and provide them with the flexibility needed to deliver best in class filtration solutions in South America,” said Andre Pereira, Head of Sales, Latin America.
The investment also reflects an additional step in Ahlstrom's ambition to strengthen its position in the global filtration market. It completes a series of investments in the past few years to strengthen the company’s global footprint and widen its high-performance offering in filtration segments. These include a new saturator as well as a new investment for glass fibre tissue line in Madisonville (Kentucky, US), a machine rebuilt in Binzhou (China), capacity expansion in Fabriano (Italy) and Malmedy (Belgium), and a new production line in Turin (Italy).
“This investment addresses some of the current and future challenges of our customers in South America which include manufacturing flexibility and robust supply chain at regional level,” said Willy Bordignon, VP Filtration Americas. “It also demonstrates our commitment to expand product portfolio and to address the demands for lower emission engines in the region for EURO 5 and EURO 6 standards,” he continued.
Louveira is located in São Paulo state about 70 km away from the state capital. The site manufactures filter media for transportation and industrial segments, mostly serving the South American markets. The plant is certified with IATF, ISO9001-2015, ISO45001 and ISO14001 and employs 120 people.
