The US-based company will install additional machinery at the Samut Prakan manufacturing plant, said managing director David Osborn.

The company will also recruit 100 new employees as it increases production of tissue products that it intends to export to Australia and New Zealand.

"The project is scheduled to start this month and is expected to finish by mid-2007," said Osborn. "Because of our [Thai operation's] superior production capability, performance and human resources, Thailand has been selected as the production base for Kimberly-Clark tissue product exports to Australia and New Zealand. This decision also reflects Thailand's strong export potential."

The expansion will boost tissue production capacity at the  plant by 8,500 tonnes, or 1.6 million cases, valued at Bt1.5 billion per year. Combined with the  plant in Pathum Thani, the new machinery at the Samut Prakan factory will make Thailand one of Kimberly-Clark's largest production sites in Southeast Asia.