Loparex Oy celebrates 100 years

Loparex Oy, which operates in Lohja, Finland, turns 100 years old in May. Established in 1906 by Hjalmar Linder (1862–1921), the former pulp mill has grown into a major manufacturer of siliconized release papers and speciality papers. Nowadays, the mill belongs to Loparex Group.

Hjalmar Linder established the Lojo Celluloosafabrik Ab company in Pitkniemi, Lohja, in the spring of 1906. As the first industrial plant in Lohja, the company played a major role in the growth and development of the town. Thanks to the migration of the employees and their families to Lohja, the town’s population doubled in ten years. Housing construction took off, and Linder had an electric railway built from Lohja station to the Pitkniemi mill.

After Linder sold the mill in the 1920s, the company continued operations under different ownership. In 1929 it came into the possession of the Haarla family. Its operations developed rapidly in the 1930s, and the first kraft paper machine started up in 1938. Launching the mill’s own paper production marked the beginning of a gradual increase in the degree of further processing. PM2 was completed in 1957, and the converting factory and its extrusion line started operations in the 1960s.

In addition to the traditional kraft paper, the mill, which belonged to Joutseno Pulp as of 1968, focused strongly on special products and product development. In 1971 the company became the first to start silicone coating in Finland. Pulp production was shut down in 1979.

The company adopted the name Loparex in 2000, and has adhered to a challenging strategy of specialization, which has secured it the leading position in its specialized field. Today the Loparex Group is the leading manufacturer of siliconized release papers and speciality papers in the world. The Group has production units in North America, Europe, China and India. The Lohja factory supplies products to the hygiene industry and food packaging industry, in particular.

The Loparex Group is now owned by ABN AMRO Capital, which bought the company from UPM-Kymmene in September 2005. The Group’s turnover is approximately EUR 350 million. Personnel total some 1,300. Loparex Oy’s factory in Lohja has a turnover of approximately EUR 100 million and some 400 employees.