UPM label division reports upward trend

UPM Raflatac, the India-based label division of UPM, has said it is experiencing a period of growth, despite the fact that the group is closing one sawmill in Finland and temporarily shutting down a production line in a German paper mill.

According to UPM Raflatac's area sales director Santosh Kumar, the Mahape, Navi Mumbai-based slitting terminal, which was commissioned in December 2006, is witnesssing an increase in business.

He said: "In the terminal, wide-width labelstock rolls are slit into smaller sizes for catering to specific customer requirements in India at short lead times for meeting the 'short call-up' demand."

Since the terminal was opened, the number of employees has doubled and sales have shown a upward trend.

"India is a promising market for us, having the highest growth percentage for self-adhesive labelstock in the Asia-Pacific region," Kumar said.

"When we started our operations in India, the main objective was to offer quality and better local service to our customers. Today, UPM Raflatac is a valued brand and widely recognised as the benchmark of quality."

UPM is a global forest products group with core businesses in printing. It announced the closure of the Leivonmäki sawmill in Finland earlier this year, because it said the mill had been operating at a loss for "a long time".