Bucharest  - Nokia mobile phone production in the Romanian city of Jucu near Cluj will reach the 10-million mark by early October, the company's vice president Anssi Vanjoki said Wednesday, Romanian news agency Mediafax reported.

Vanjoki spoke at the official opening ceremony of the Jucu plant, which started operating in February.

The new plant followed the contested shutdown of a factory in the German city of Bochum and allowed the Finnish communications giant to partly move production to Eastern Europe.

Plans for possible "relocations further to the East" as happened in Bochum, did not exist, Vanjoki said.

"On a global level, things no longer depend on cheap labour. We have to watch production costs, distribution networks, transport costs for components and final products," he added.

Initially, Nokia 1200-model mobile phones were assembled at the Jucu plant, but the production range has since been expanded, local director John Guerry said, without giving further details.

Currently, the Jucu Nokia plant employs 1,600 people. By the end of the expansion, the number is expected to rise to 3,500. (dpa)