East Walpole, MA January 31st, 2011: Hollingsworth & Vose Co. announces a major capacity expansion at its Suzhou, China Mill. The expansion will consist of the addition of a new paper machine capable of producing water and solvent based filter media serving engine and industrial filtration applications. The new machine will be H&V’s largest globally and is expected to come on line in the first half of 2012. It is being designed with the full capability to serve the growing China and Asia Pacific market with high quality, performance-based products.

Commenting on the expansion plans, H&V CEO Val Hollingsworth said “We have been pleased with the progress of our team in the Asia Pacific region and see this investment as the logical next step in our long term growth plan.“ Since beginning commercial production at our Suzhou mill in 2008, we had good market acceptance of our products which are produced at the highest global standards of quality and performance. H&V is committed to further increasing our scope of products and services to meet the needs of this region.”

H&V’s vice president and general manager of the Asia Pacific region, Josh Ayer, also commented “The demand for engine and industrial filtration products is significant. We have created a successful regional business with global filtration companies operating in China and rapidly growing domestic Chinese companies who realize the competitive advantage of high performance products. We are pleased to be able to offer both water and solvent-based products incorporating our latest technology. This expansion combined with our recently announced construction of a new global technology center at our Suzhou site will position H&V well to meet regional customer needs.”