Metso to supply new tissue machine.

METSO TO SUPPLY NEW TISSUE MACHINE. Metso Paper, Helsinki, Finland will supply a complete new tissue line in the third quarter of 2006 for Fabrica de Papel San Francisco S.A. de C.V., Mexicali, Mexico. The value of the order is not disclosed. The line will use 100% recycled fiber as raw material. The machine will produce 30,000 metric tons per year of dry crepe tissue, which will be used for bathroom tissue, napkin, and towel production. Metso Paper in Karlstad, Sweden, will manage the order and Metso unit in Gorizia, Italy, will participate in the delivery. Metso will supply an Advantage DCT 100 TS tissue machine equipped with a SymFlo[TM] TIS headbox and a 5-meter diameter Yankee cylinder. The design speed of the 2.6-meter-wide tissue machine is 2200 meters per min.

IN OTHER METSO NEWS:

* Interstate Paper Company, Riceboro, Georgia, USA has ordered a press rebuild for their Number 1 Linerboard Machine from Metso Paper. Start-up is scheduled for late 2005. The new press section will include a straight-through press followed by a SymBelt[TM] shoe press. The press is designed to improve dryness, reduce draw and provide greater strength development in the pressing area. The new equipment will have a design speed of 3000 fpm (915 meters/min). Wire width is 188 inches (4775 mm).

* Metso Panelboard will upgrade and deliver equipment for Alfa Wood--Pindos SA's fiberboard production line in Grevena, Greece. The order is included in the order backlog of Metso Panelboard for the fourth quarter of 2004. Delivery will take place during the spring and summer of 2005, with start-up of the upgraded fiberboard production line scheduled for September 2005. The value of the order is not disclosed.

* The Metso Paper supplied papermaking line at UPM Kuusankoski in Finland has set a new world speed record for fine paper machines. The Kymi Paper Machine Number 8 ran at an average speed of 1584 meters/min for a period of 24 hours, producing precoated fine paper. The record-breaking machine was supplied by Metso Paper in 1983. In 2001, Metso Paper rebuilt the machine almost completely, modernizing both the wet end and the paper finishing equipment of the line.

* Metso will sell real estate in Pori, Finland to the city of Pori and Hollming Oy for approximately EUR 12 million (US$ 15.6 million). The property to be sold includes the Karjaranta industrial site and its structures as well as the old Rosenlew headquarters in downtown Pori. Metso will remain in the Karjaranta office premises under a long-term lease agreement.