Raute - Company Announcement

RAUTE SIGNS A CONTRACT WITH CHINESE INVESTORS TO DELIVER VENEER MILL MACHINERY TO RUSSIA

RAUTE CORPORATION	STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 20 May 2009 at 3 p.m.                  
RAUTE SIGNS A CONTRACT WITH CHINESE INVESTORS TO DELIVER VENEER MILL MACHINERY  
TO RUSSIA                                                                       

Raute Corporation has signed a contract worth about EUR 8 million with the      
Chinese-Russian investment company Henda-Siberia Co LTD to deliver the machinery
of a new veneer mill to be built in the Tomsk region in Russia. The contract    
comprises a log handling line, a peeling line, and a veneer drying and grading  
line. The contract is estimated to become effective in June 2009. The machinery 
deliveries will take place in late 2009 and early 2010.                         

Henda-Siberia Co LTD is a Russian company owned by Yantai Northwest Forestry    
Co., Ltd. and the Chinese Investment Promotion Agency of Yantai Economic and    
Technological Development Area. The new veneer mill will be part of a large wood
processing project, Tomsk Industry Garden, realized in cooperation by the       
Chinese central government and Henda-Siberia Co LTD.                            

This signed contract, once becoming effective, does not have any impact on the  
previously announced estimate on Raute's 2009 net sales to decline clearly from 
the previous year and operating profit to be negative.                          

RAUTE CORPORATION                                                               

Tapani Kiiski                                                                   
President and CEO                                                               


FURTHER INFORMATION:                                                            
Mr. Tapani Kiiski, President and CEO, Raute Corporation, mobile +358 400 814 148



RAUTE IN BRIEF:                                                                 
Raute is a technology company serving the wood products industry worldwide. Its 
most important customers are the plywood and LVL industries. The company is one 
of the world's leading suppliers of mill-scale projects to these customer       
industries. The total service concept also includes technology services, with   
which Raute supports its customers throughout the entire life cycle of their    
investments. Raute's head office and main production plant are in Nastola,      
Finland. Its other production plants are in the Vancouver area of Canada, in the
Shanghai area of China, and in Jyväskylä and Kajaani, Finland. Net sales in 2008
were EUR 98.5 million and the number of personnel 573. More information on the  
company can be found at www.raute.com.                                          

DISTRIBUTION:                                                                   
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd, main media, www.raute.com