Ahlstrom has invested €2 million in a new laminator at Louveira plant, Brazil. With a planned installation in 2023, the equipment is expected to be fully operational by Q1 2024.   

This strategic growth initiative will expand manufacturing capabilities at the Louveira plant. It reinforces Ahlstrom’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,” says Andre Pereira, head of Sales, Latin America.

This investment is an additional step in its ambition to strengthen the global leadership in filtration. 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 fiber tissue line in Madisonville (Kentucky, U.S.), 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,” says 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.”

Louveira is located in São Paulo state about 70 km away from the state capital. The Louveira plant manufactures filter media for transportation and industrial segments, serving especially the South American markets. The plant is certified with IATF, ISO9001-2015, ISO45001 and ISO14001 and employs 120 people.