Helsinki, Finland, 18 February 2010 – UPM Raflatac is planning to streamline its RFID operations to further reinforce its competitiveness. The company plans to relocate new product piloting from Jyväskylä, Finland, into its volume factories and closer to the fast growing markets in Guangzhou, China, and Fletcher, North Carolina, USA.

The number of UPM Raflatac employees in Jyväskylä will decrease by 24 persons. If measures are carried out according to plans, around 11 people will continue to work for RFID Business Area in Jyväskylä.

Plans concerning the transferring of new product piloting will be negotiated with employees in accordance with local legislation. Opportunities for relocation within UPM and retraining will be handled as part of the negotiations. The planned actions are estimated to be completed by the end of 2010.

“With the planned measures we target to further improve our profitability and to secure our growth. With product piloting closer to fastest growing markets, and with leaner product introduction we will be able to respond more rapidly to our customers' needs. RFID business is extremely dynamic, and develops at an accelerating speed, which is why we have to also be more agile,” said Christer Härkönen, senior vice president of UPM Raflatac RFID business area.

UPM Raflatac, part of UPM’s Engineered Materials business group, is one of the world’s leading suppliers of self-adhesive label materials and the world’s number one producer of HF and UHF radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and inlays. UPM Raflatac has a global service network consisting of 13 factories on five continents and a broad network of sales offices and slitting and distribution terminals worldwide. UPM Raflatac employs 2600 people and made sales of approximately EUR 0.95 billion (USD 1.3 billion) in 2009. Further information is available at www.upmraflatac.com.