VALHALLA, N.Y. (March 21, 2008) - Due to high demand for the company's Brillia HD CTP plates, Fujifilm has announced that it will expand its plate manufacturing facility in Tilburg, The Netherlands. The company will invest approximately 15 billion yen ($154.5 million) to construct a new plate line – its eighth worldwide – to produce CTP plates.

Construction on the new line will begin in October 2008 and plate manufacturing is due to begin in January 2010. The new plate line will enable Fujifilm to produce both Brillia High Definition (HD) processless thermal plates as well as the new Brillia HD chemistry-free violet plate.

"The investment will allow Fujifilm to not only meet the growing demand of CTP plates, but will also contribute to reducing environmental impact by expanding the local production of environmentally friendly products such as Fujifilm's processless thermal plates and the chemistry-free violet plates," explains Keith Dalton, director of Fujifilm Graphic Systems in Europe.

The new plates are the result of Fujifilm's dedication to research and development efforts aimed at removing the processing stage of CTP production, while maintaining the quality and performance of the plates themselves. The plates feature a new high definition (HD) plate emulsion technology, designed specifically to allow wider imaging and processing latitudes, enabling users to achieve high quality print production more easily.

Tilburg is one of Fujifilm's five platemaking facilities – encompassing eight plate lines – worldwide and produces plates for markets in the UK, Europe and South Africa.

Fujifilm has long been a leading company in the manufacture of equipment and materials for the commercial printing market. The expansion of the Tilburg facility continues the company's worldwide development, manufacture and sales of a broad spectrum of products, including graphic arts film and plates and software and hardware for prepress. Fujifilm plans to expand and develop its graphic systems business and to continue to contribute to the development of the global printing industry.