Already in the early 1960'es a considerable part of Mirka's products were exported to the USA, as well as to Great Britain and Iceland. Thanks to the growing export markets, the productivity more than doubled in 1965. At the end of the 1970's, exports amounted to 54 % of the turnover.
In order to survive on the international abrasives market, it was necessary to give up the cheap bulk products and concentrate instead on product development and high class industry products. In 1969, the first high class products reached the market and in the same year the manufacturing of self-adhesive discs started, which is still today the most important product group.
Since the new products required better production equipment and enlarged facilities, it was decided in 1972 to invest in a modern factory which was ready the following year.
In 1977 parts of the production were moved to Oravais. The Oravais factory has been gradually expanding over the years, most recently in 2003. The factory in Jeppo has been gradually expanding during the 1980'es and 90'es. The automated warehouse, the Jumbo Tower, Mirka's landmark in Jeppo was ready in 1996 and in September 2004 the newest building, hall 9 and office facilities, were inaugurated.
The first sales companies were founded in the UK in 1976 and in Germany in 1980. The subsidiary in the USA was founded in 1985, followed by Sweden and France in 1992, Italy in 1995 and Spain in 2003. An export office was founded in 1996 in Malaysia and was in 2000 moved to Singapore, nowadays a subsidiary administrating the whole Asia Pacific region. During 2006 Mirka opened subsidiaries in Brazil and Mexico and a representative office in Shanghai, China. In 2008 the representative office in China became an independent subsidiary. During that year Mirka also established a subsidiary in Russia. A new subsidiary was founded in Canada in 2009. During the same year the subsidiary in Sweden was changed into Mirka Scandinavia with branch offices in Norway and Denmark. The newest subsidiary was founded in 2010 in India to strengthening Mirka’s position in Asia.
Today Mirka is an international company and a member of the KWH Group. The KWH Group was established in 1984 when Oy Keppo Ab bought half the shares of Oy Wiik & Höglund Ab. The KWH Group is an internationally recognized actor in the business world of today.