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Native name | Finnish: KWH-yhtymä Oy Swedish: KWH-koncernen Ab |
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| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Conglomerate |
| Founded | 1929 |
| Headquarters | Vaasa, Finland |
Key people | Henrik Höglund, Chairman Kjell Antus, President Stefan Sjöberg (Mirka) Joakim Laxåback (KWH Logistics) Peter Lång (KWH Freeze) Marko Nylund (Prevex) |
| Products | Abrasives, logistics services, real estate holdings, plastic plumbing products |
| Revenue | 592.8 million euros (2021)[1] |
| 45.0 million euro (2019) | |
| 35.3 million euro (2019)[2] | |
Number of employees | 2363 (2019) |
| Website | www |
KWH Group Ltd (Finnish: KWH-yhtymä Oy, Swedish: KWH-koncernen Ab)[3] is one of Finland's largest companies in abrasives, logistics services and plastics. It is headquartered in Vaasa, Finland.
From a modest start in the timber industry, KWH Group grew to be the biggest timber exporter in Finland by 1939, accounting for 26% of the country's total lumber exports and some 20% of pulpwood exports[4] [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.[5]
After expanding into plastics production in the 1950s, the company was the first in Finland to manufacture expanded polystyrene sheets with its brand name Styrox. Establishing a niche in plastic pipe manufacturing, the company was the first in the world to manufacture a 600 mm (24 in) diameter pipe in 1964, thereby gaining international recognition.[6]
Today, the Mirka Group (previously KWH Mirka Group until 2016) is one of the largest manufacturers of "flexible abrasives materials" in the world.[7] It is headquartered in Vaasa, Finland.[8]
- ^ "Annual review 2021". KWH Group. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
- ^ KWH Group Ltd: Annual Review 2019
- ^ "KWH-koncernen Ab". Kauppalehti (in Finnish). Retrieved 16 October 2023.
- ^ Holger., Wester (1979). Wiik & Höglund 1929-1979. Stjernschantz, Göran., Swanljung, Harry., (Litoset). Vaasa: Wiik & Höglund. ISBN 9519924124. OCLC 57866991.
- ^ KWH Group Ltd: The history of KWH Group
- ^ Wester, Holger and Stjernschantz, Göran: Wiik & Höglund 1929-1979 (ISBN 9519930310)
- ^ KWH Group Ltd: Annual Review 2016
- ^ "Company information". Finnish Patent and Registration Office. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2022.