Ahlstrom Expands Product Range in South America with Newly Developed Ahlstrom SILCA Soft

By extending its release papers product range in Brazil, Ahlstrom aims at better serving the growing market needs and offering further local supply alternatives to imported glassine or supercalendered kraft release papers.

18 April 2012 --- Ahlstrom, a global high performance materials company, will extend the range of release papers produced at its Jacareì plant in Brazil with the introduction of calendered Ahlstrom SILCA Soft grades.

The Pressure Sensitive-Adhesive (PSA) labelling market is estimated to grow approximately by 5-7% per year in Brazil and South America. By extending its release papers product range in Brazil, Ahlstrom aims at better serving the growing market needs and offering further local supply alternatives to imported glassine or supercalendered kraft release papers. Equipment modifications to enable larger production volumes are planned for August 2012.

In developing Ahlstrom SILCA Soft, the company relied on its broad expertise in the production of high quality release liners. This new calendered backing paper, particularly well adapted for labelstock applications, offers the required properties for secure siliconizing and reliable converting process. It complements the existing range of Ahlstrom SILCA calendered release papers manufactured in Europe and used by the PSA industry worldwide.

Ahlstrom's Jacareì plant is already well known for its high quality clay-coated release papers and facestock label papers. With the addition of calendered Ahlstrom SILCA Soft to the range, the company offers the most complete portfolio of release and label papers to the PSA industry in South America.

"The extension of our local product offering is a sign of increasing commitment to our customers in the region, who will benefit from a local supply, flexible lead times and a responsive service for an increasing number of products," said Valmir Piton, Vice President, Latin America, Label and Processing.

Ahlstrom is a global leader in release papers, with widest product range on the market for any PSA application. Its release papers are manufactured in Europe and South America and are part of the offering of Ahlstrom's Label and Processing business area.