Invest in France Agency nordic-countries Office

The papermaking firm Soustre, a subsidiary of the Finnish company Stora Enso specialising in the manufacture of cardboard for tubes, has announced an investment of 4.5 million euros.

The investment will chiefly be used to finance a new press that uses less water. Soustre employs 90 people in Saint-Seurin-sur-l'Isle near Bordeaux.

The American group Silliker, specialising in food health and safety, is to set up a chemical laboratory in Merville (Nord Pas-de-Calais).

The French subsidiary of the American company already has the biggest microbiology analysis platform since the acquisition of Clabo Conseil earlier in the year. By 2010, Silliker is to build a 2,500 m² laboratory on a 2 hectare site, and will recruit 100 employees over three years, half of whom this year. Silliker France has 950 employees with a turnover of 55 million euros.

The Spanish company specialising in photovoltaic energy, Siliken SL, has opened offices in France in Portet sur Garonne near Toulouse (Midi Pyrénées).

It is the first time the company has had an office in France.

GES opened on July 15th a corporate office in Dunkirk in northern France, serving the company’s operational needs for northern Europe.

In addition, GES Dunkirk is expected to serve as a beachhead for the company’s establishment and future expansion within the European Union, a region the company previously served via agent relationships.
With a long established corporate office and warehousing network in Asia, GES is well positioned to add value to Europe’s expanding supply chains.

Japanese subsidiary of NTN, the SNR Bearings group announced an investment project for its Argonay plant, in the Rhone-Alps region, to meet the upsurge in orders.

NTN is therefore planning to increase the production capacity of its plant, which specializes in bearings for the aerospace industry. An investment estimated at 13.5 million euros will go to the construction of a new 500 square meter workshop and installation of new production machines, as well as create 60 jobs for operators and technicians. SNR employs 4,100 people, half of which work in the Annecy plant.