BULLETIN

Matti Salmi
KUUSAKOSKI GROWING
FOR GLOBAL MARKETS
Alteams is one of the Nordic region’s largest manufacturers of cast-aluminium
components. Recycled aluminium is used in production.
products for telecommunications companies,
the automotive and electrical industries,
and to medical equipment companies.
Production must be as flexible as possible
and it must be easy to switch from one
product to the next.
ALTEAMS’ ALUMINIUM COMPONENTS can
be found in mobile telephones and base
stations. Recycled aluminium can come
from old NMT base stations and then be
used in new 3G networks and, in future, in
4G networks, making recycling complete.
“The volumes in the telecommunications
industry have fallen slightly. On the other
hand, a lot of things are happening there
and change happens quickly ,” says Routila.
The automatic production processes at a
modern aluminium foundry are reminiscent
of a high-tech company.
ALUMINIUM IS A UNIQUE MATERIAL in
that it is difficult to replace with another
type of metal or plastic. “The most important
property of aluminium is its mouldability.
By using construction joints, many
work phases can be skipped during assembly,”
says Routila.
Other good properties of aluminium are
its strength and its conductivity for heat
and electricity. Nowadays, it is also important
that aluminium is recycled as much as
possible. “Customers value recycled aluminium.
This is something that they can
use when marketing, just like we do,” he
says. ■
Alteams Oy’s parent company,
Kuusakoski Group, is a metal
recycling company with operations
around the world. The company
offers recycling services and
processes scrap metal into raw
materials for industry. Each year,
the company reduces global waste
by 120,000 tonnes. Last year, the
Kuusakoski Group had a turnover
of 443.4 million euros and had
1,700 employees.
Kuusakoski’s Vice President of
Corporate Planning, Esko Mustonen,
is pleased with the new Alteams
company. “We succeeded in structuring
the old foundry group’s operations,”
he says. “Alteams now has
new potential for fulfilling customer
needs even better.”
Kuusakoski also carried out other
acquisitions within recycling in the
beginning of the year. A recycling
company these days must be of a
certain size in order to function
globally.
“This has long been a familybusiness
type of operation. Industrialisation,
consolidation and increased
volumes arose late in the
industry,” says Mustonen, describing
developments in the recycling
sector.
On the other hand, a small, local
recycling facility can also be profitable.
EU directives now place greater
demands on international electronics
companies, which must increasingly
set up recycling systems.
Kuusakoski must also observe
these regulations as a supplier of
recycling products and services.
bulletin ● july 2002 13