Ahlstrom, a global high performance materials company, has completed an investment on additional capacity in filtration material at its site in Turin, Italy. The company has started to ramp up its new saturator line, which is expected to be commercial during the third quarter of 2012, slightly ahead of the planned schedule. The value of the investment, initially announced in December 2010, is approximately EUR 17.5 million.

"This capacity increase in Turin is an important step for Ahlstrom's Filtration business area. We are committed to grow with our customers as a global supplier in the filtration market with a full offering of filter media. We are pleased to be able to provide the newest technology to our customers, both for transportation and advanced filtration materials. This way we will help our customers to stay ahead," stated Tommi Björnman, Executive Vice President, Filtration.

"We are excited about the new saturator line, which has state-of-the-art control equipment that ensures manufacturing of a very consistent, clean and high quality media," said Gary Blevins, Vice President, Transportation Filtration.

Ahlstrom is the global leader of filtration materials with 11 production sites across four continents. Earlier this year, Ahlstrom announced that it has completed significant upgrades with various filtration testing and simulation equipment to its Global Filtration Technical Center in Turin, Italy. These investments ensure Ahlstrom's capabilities to offer new and innovative solutions for its customers globally.