please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article contains content that is written like an advertisement . please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view . january 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . january 2012 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message kwh group type private industry conglomerate founded 1929 headquarters vaasa finland key people henrik h glund chairman peter h glund president ralf karlstr m kwh mirka hannu uusi pohjola kwh logistics kjell antus kwh invest products abrasives logistics services real estate holdings plastic plumbing products revenue 560 million euro 2012 operating income 27.6 million euro 2012 net income 18.1 million euro 2012 1 number of employees 2 711 2012 website kwh group kwh group is one of finland s leading companies in abrasives logistics and plastics services . it is headquartered in vaasa finland . from a modest start in the timber industry by 1939 it was the biggest timber exporter in finland accounting for 26 % of the country s total lumber exports and some 20 % of pulpwood exports citation needed . the company was the world s largest fox and mink fur producer in the 1960s and 1970s producing approximately 10 % of all finnish mink furs equivalent to 2 % of world production in 1973 . 2 after expanding into plastics production in the 1950s the company was the first in finland to manufacture expanded polystyrene sheets and its brand name styrox became synonymous with all such products in finland . establishing a niche expertise in plastic pipe manufacturing the company was the first in the world to manufacture a 600 mm diameter pipe in 1964 thereby gaining international recognition . 3 today the kwh mirka group is probably the third largest manufacturer in the world in volume terms in the flexible abrasives materials industry . 4 contents 1 history 1.1 wiik & h glund 1.2 keppo 1.3 kwh group 2 divisions 2.1 kwh mirka 2.2 kwh logistics 2.3 kwh invest 3 references and footnotes history edit wiik & h glund edit prior to the founding of wiik & h glund emil h glund and edvin wiik were both in the timber business . emil h glund worked as a clerk and edvin wiik worked as an independent buyer of timber for the helln s sawmills . as the sawmill was expected to foreclose after defaulting on its payments both were faced with unemployment . discussing their options they decided to establish their own company wiik & h glund which was founded on august 28 1929 . the company was to engage in trade in round timber pit props and pulpwood . wiik acted as a buyer and h glund having studied at a commercial college and spent some time in england in 1928 was responsible for sales and bookkeeping . though they had a prosperous first year in business thanks to their previous experience in the timber sector the company also faced periodical difficulties for example during the depression years of 1930 1933 . however in the late 1930s the company expanded fast and became one of the major round timber exporters in finland with emil h glund travelling as a salesman to germany the netherlands belgium france and britain . by 1939 wiik & h glund was the biggest timber exporter in finland accounting for 26 % of the country s total lumber exports and some 20 % of pulpwood exports . their commercial success allowed them to make investments outside their own company operations and in 1937 they become a major shareholder in the jakobstads cellulosa ab pulp company majority owned by oy wilh . schauman ab and in 1939 they took a significant stake in the vasa rederi ab shipping company later buying up the entire stock . their holding in jakobstads cellulosa ab also increased and in the 1960s wiik & h glund and keppo jointly held 15 % of oy wilh . schauman ab making them the biggest private shareholder . during the war years wiik & h glund exports were virtually halted and other products were produced to compensate for the loss of exports . firewood and woodchips now became the most important products and were mainly purchased by the german and finnish armies as well as finnish state authorities . after the war exports of round timber started up again and the company s previous customers in west germany france and the netherlands again became the biggest trading partners . profitability was good and profits were re invested into fixed assets mainly forest . the most important investment came in autumn 1951 when the plastics company holmsund ab in ume sweden one of wiik & h glund s customers offered them the sole manufacturing rights in finland . the production started in vaasa in 1951 and moved to new premises in 1952 where kwh group s and uponor s joint venture plastic pipe plant uponor infra ltd is still located today . wiik & h glund made major investments and acquisitions to expand their plastics business . in 1954 the vaasa firm lars berts was purchased and in 1955 the first plastic pipes were produced . wiik & h glund was also the first company in finland to make expanded polystyrene sheets which were marketed under the brand name styrox a name that is synonymous today in finland with all products made of this raw material . 5 other companies that were acquired were forss & govenius and nars both from jakobstad which have developed into today s kwh plast . 6 in 1969 wiik & h glund and oy finlayson ab jointly purchased a rival polyethylene pipe company muovitehdas oy in ulvila becoming a wiik & h glund subsidiary in 1986 during a restructuring of the pipe business . in the 1970s wiik & h glund embarked on several large international projects later to be formed into the wh pipe international division . pipe projects in brazil iraq south korea and thailand increased the company s familiarity with these markets . restructuring and concentration on certain products continued in the 1980s while the company continued to expand abroad . factories making polyethylene pipes were set up in denmark thailand canada and in 1990 in malaysia and portugal . industrial piping was added to the production programme when oy muotekno ab oy sul mu ab laurolon oy plastilon oy and the french company sipap pipe systems s.a. joined the group . as a result of restructuring in the group the complete pipe manufacturing was transferred to kwh pipe which today is a part of uponor infra ltd a joint venture between uponor s and kwh group s infrastructure solutions businesses . 7 keppo edit the site of the keppo mansion has been characterized by small scale industrial activities for several centuries . with the keppo rapids providing access to water power and in combination with the close proximity to the shipping port in nykarleby alderman samuel lithovius recognized a business opportunity for processing timber from the surrounding forests and setup up a water powered saw mill at the site in about 1740 . 8 subsequent owners developed the site further with a tobacco plantation spinning mill pitch works and a linen cotton and textile mill until 1829 when keppo was acquired by carl otto von essen . 9 during the time of otto von essen the sawmill experienced a boom in business . peter malm from jakobstad a well known shipowner and industrialist became a corporate member at the sawmill in 1840 . he financed the sawmill and sold the finished products while von essen worked as saw inspector and timber purchaser . in the 1860s the annual production exceeded ten thousand logs . a fire in 1893 destroyed the sawmill and no saw mill has been operational at the keppo rapids since . the von essen family owned the keppo mansion until 1899 when hugo gr nlund acquired it who then sold it to the wilhelm schauman ab company in jakobstad in 1906 . 10 viktor schauman the son of wilhelm schauman bought the keppo mansion in 1918 and after a renovation lived at the mansion with his wife until 1930 when the mansion was again sold . the main building then became an evangelical high school and was owned by the guarantee association during 1930 1942 . after a period as army accommodation during world war ii the house was again bought and restored by the viktor schauman family who lived at the mansion until 1954 . in parallel with his activities within the wiik & h glund company see section above emil h glund had been active in mink farming already since 1937 first together with karl johan stuns from v r until 1944 and later with karl johan tidstr m. their farming activities expanded rapidly over the following decades and in 1953 the systematic breeding programmes had resulted in a unique mutation the finlandia topaz which gained world wide recognition . in 1954 emil h glund and karl johan tidstr m bought the keppo mansion with the accompanying 37 hectares of cultivated land and 418 hectares of forest establishing the company keppo ltd. all their mink farming activities were now owned by keppo ltd and a new mink farm was established next to the old mansion . this farm also experienced rapid growth and became the biggest mink farm in the world by 1962 . peak production was reached in the 1970s when approximately 130 000 skins were produced at the keppo farm while the production of all of the keppo owned farms together were approximately 480 000 mink and 150 000 fox skins . 11 kwh group edit the group proper was formed in 1984 when oy keppo ab purchased the remaining half of oy wiik & h glund ab s shares that it did not already own from the wiik family . oy keppo ab had already purchased half of the company from the h glund family in 1981 . a key driver was the need to shape a new corporate culture for the kwh group and to formulate coherent strategies goals operating principles and rules of play . the conglomerate was restructured in the late 1980s and early 1990s and several divestitures were made most notable the selling of approximately 13 000 hectares of forest and the share holdings in oy wilh . schauman ab as well as the gradual selling of all activities related to the mink and fox farming business . according to the new strategy the group s resources were to be focused on developing its core operations which were defined as kwh pipe kwh plast and kwh mirka . all other aspects of the operations were gathered together within kwh invest . in the beginning kwh pipe received the lion s share of new investments . a new production facility was opened in 1990 in portugal 12 output in canada was doubled and new and expanded production facilities were opened in malaysia and thailand while operations in india began in 1992 in the form of a joint venture . additional investments were made in sweden poland and germany . however due to changing market conditions the operations in china germany the us and india have since closed . a second area of investment was kwh mirka which from modest beginnings now have achieved a leading position 13 especially in automotive refinishing art . in volume terms kwh mirka is one of the five biggest operators globally in the coated abrasives