METSO CHEMICAL PULPING TECHNOLOGY CHOSEN FOR STENDAL KRAFT PULP MILL IN GERMANY

Metso Paper has been selected as the supplier of an approximately EUR 130 million pulping system for Zellstoff Stendal GmbH greenfield kraft pulp mill in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Supply contract comes into force upon the completion of the financing arrangements for the project scheduled for the first quarter of 2002.

Metso Paper's chemical pulping lines' delivery will comprise the entire pulp production line from woodhandling up to ready made pulp bales. The mill is designed for an annual capacity of 550,000 tonnes of bleached softwood market pulp. The chosen technology is specially designed for production of high quality end product with minimum environmental impact.

Majority owner of the new Stendal pulp mill will be Mercer International Inc. which owns and operates a market pulp and paper business in the southern German states of Saxony and Thuringia. In 2000, the net sales of Mercer International Inc. amounted to EUR 255 million. The other owners are RWE Solutions, the subsidiary of RWE Group and AIG Altmark Industrie AG. RWE Group is a large European company in energy and environmental business with annual net sales of EUR 62.9 billion. AIG Altmark Industrie AG is a property development and industrial investment company with headquarters in Arneburg near Stendal, Germany.

Metso Corporation is a global supplier of process industry machinery and systems. The 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.

Metso completed its offer for Svedala Industri AB on September 14, 2001. Svedala is a global supplier of products and services for rock and mineral processes. Metso's and Svedala's combined net sales are approximately EUR 5,400 million (in 2000) and the amount of personnel is approximately 32,000.