Money in mill maintenance

has won a contract worth $150m to provide full service maintenance to Myllykoski Paper in Finland. ABB will take responsibility for maintenance operations at the company's mill in Anjalankoski, Finland.

According to a statement, the new performance-based agreement will help Myllykoski Paper to focus on its core competence of papermaking as ABB assumes responsibility for mill maintenance and productivity.

The arrangement covers automation, electrical and mechanical maintenance and planning as well as material management at the mill, which produces 500,000 tons of coated and uncoated papers annually. About 170 Myllykoski Paper employees will transfer to ABB.

The new contract complements more than 150 ABB Full Service relationships with customers in the paper, metals, mining, chemicals, oil and gas, telecommunications and other industries.

Myllykoski Paper markets, develops and manufactures high-quality papers for magazines and advertising materials. The company currently employs about 800 people at its publication paper mill and reported net sales of €270m in 2005.