Johnson Controls brings production to Brazil
Valor Econômico - 02/22/2008
Johnson Controls starts the project of increase of its production of alternative compressors next month. After transferring the plant from Denmark to São Paulo, the company foresees increasing its production from 300 units to 2 thousand units a year as of 2009. In order to do so, Johnson Controls has invested US$ 3 million in the transport of 20 large-sized machines to the country, mostly machining centers. The sales of the factory may triplicate, according to an estimate by Paulo Roberto Freire, the president of the company in Brazil, going from the current US$ 20 million to US$ 60 million. The last result of the division of industrial refrigeration - related to the 2006/2007 base period - showed growth of 40%, amounting to US$ 80 million. The production of compressors is part of this division and the forecast is to repeat the evolution in the next balance sheet. In Freire's opinion, in addition to the sales increase in Brazil and in Latin America, the reduction of the cost of production was the crucial factor for the transference. The investments made by slaughterhouses have pushed the sales of the company up in the country. In the ranking, this sector is followed by the manufacturers of beverages, dairy products and petrochemical industries. According to Freire, the demand for refrigeration solutions grows 20% to 30% a year. As a whole, the company sold, in its last fiscal year, nearly US$ 200 million which means a 32% increase compared with the same period of the previous year. From these, nearly US$ 70 million concern the segment of air conditioners and US$ 50 million, controls and services. Industrial refrigeration sold US$ 80 million.