70m euro for wood processing

Austria-based Holzindustrie Schweighofer will build a state-of-the-art factory to process softwood in the Sebes area, Alba County. Gerald Schweighofer, Holzindustrie Group chairman, said the initial investment would exceed 70 million euros. The project has been completed more than 60%. The actual production is supposed to begin in late 2003 and reach about 800,000 cubic metres of wood a year on the average. The chairman of the Austrian group added he estimated the Sebes facility to post more than 100 million euro turnover a year. It will make finished products, with the bulk set to be exported primarily to Japan, but also to 30 other countries throughout the world. The factory in Sebes will comply with the European legislation, so that more than 2 million euros have already been invested for environmental protection purposes, namely for installing filters to reduce pollution. ZF