Group to invest $ 200 million in the country
Valor Econômico
Rhodia should invest nearly US$ 200 million in Brazil in the next three to four years, starting in 2010, in order to promote the organic expansion of the units in the country and also in the development of new products, said Jean-Pierre Clamadieu, main global executive of the company.
With earnings of US$ 1.23 billion in Brazil last year, the country is responsible for 17% of the global income of the French multinational. Over the past five years, the company invested US$ 250 million in the country, in several segments in which it operates - mainly in the areas of polymers, textiles and chemicals. The areas of polyamide, textile yarns and plastics should receive a great part of these new investments, informed Clamadieu without detailing the destination of the funds.
Rhodia has five industrial units in the country, all of them in São Paulo - two in Santo André, one in São Bernardo do Campo, one Paulínia and another one in Jacareí. Also in Paulinia the company has one of its main centers of research and product development.
Although it registered a fall in global sales this year, still as a result of the financial crisis, Clamadieu said the performance of the Rhodia's businesses in Brazil has already been recovered, as well as in the Asian market, with China in the spotlight. According to the Executive, Brazil is the country responsible for the biggest sales volume of the multinational in the world. Clamadieu affirmed that the appreciation in value of the Real in relation to the Dollar does not turn the country into an important platform for export base. Nearly 30% of the production of Rhodia in Brazil is currently exported.