Under an agreement signed today, Dansk Eternit, Denmark's leading manufacturer of cement composites, will market and distribute the best- selling HardiPlank cement sidings from manufacturer James Hardie.

Ground and polished concrete floors have been developed into a global market worth billions which is continuing to grow, particularly in the United States and Australia. A limiting factor in this expansion has been the problem of handling the large volumes of grinding dust. Grinding dust which, in addition, often contains particles hazardous to health. The Swedish company, Dustcontrol, has now solved these problems with a new concept and two newly developed construction dust collectors which deal efficiently with large quantities of dust. The risk of lung diseases is also greatly reduced thanks to special pre-separators and advanced filter technology.

PAF, a gaming company based in the Aland Islands, is the first in the world to launch an interactive mobile money game. Experts in the field believe that in the future it is precisely mobile gaming which will surge to be the major digital gaming industry. - We believe we are the first in the world to bring an interactive mobile money game to the market, says Stefan Pettersson, PAF’s business development manager and head of digital games. The new mobile game is called Joker Poker. The game was developed by EGET, a Finnish provider of digital game solutions.

FASEC in Scandinavia has created a new approach to building façade design that offers significant cost and design benefits to the building industry. The company believes that its concept has considerable growth potential world-wide.

An expanded range and a focus on strengthening its business through international collaboration are supporting Stora Enso's strong growth in graphical boards. The use of the company's Aurocard board for the covers of IKEA's catalogues is a powerful example of this increasing market. This year 132 million IKEA catalogues have been printed and are forecast to rise by tens of millions within a few years. 

Popularity of snack food is challenging the packaging industry. New types of packs are needed to attract busy consumers. The Langnese-Iglo Micro-Baguette launched on the German market this spring is an excellent example of the new trend in smart packaging, where technology and design go hand in hand. The package won first prize in the TIDA 2003, Trayforma International Design Award competition organised by Stora Enso.

The Swedish Company Hägglunds is to launch its own pump series including its largest pump size ever, with a maximum displacement of 750 cubic centimetres. The product series will be progressively introduced and includes eight basic pump sizes.  This will make it possible to closely adapt the pump to drive speed requirement so optimising the customer's manufacturing process and, together with the company's equipment provide a complete drive solution.

A light and strong board case for photo CDs has been developed by Stora Enso Activation. The packaging solution is reported to offer costs savings coupled with a smarter image for brand owners. This novel packaging solution has been adopted by the leading photographic company, Fujicolor, for its photo CD service.

Ready-to-drink tea is now Japan's most popular soft drink, selling in terms of volume more than fruit juices, carbonated drinks, milk and water. The tea trend seems likely to continue and it contributes to the growth of Stora Enso Consumer Boards and Nippon Paper-Pak on the Japanese markets. Nippon uses Stora Enso´s high barrier board, which is ideal for various aroma and taste sensitive beverages.

PCE Engineering Oy of Toijala, Finland, has announced the successful initial adoption of their ELiPLAN production planning software by High Concrete Structures Inc., the United States' largest producer of precast concrete parking structures. This makes the US company ELiPLAN's major user. Based in Denver, Pennsylvania, High Concrete produces large building components such as double tees, beams and columns. As well as supporting this successful company's production, the planning software has improved information flow and inventory control.