High demand stimulates Tupy to invest US$ 155.3 million until 2012
Valor Econômico
With production capacity taken near to the limit, Tupy foundry, based in Joinville (SC), is preparing to invest R$ 264 million (US$ 155.3 million) in expansion over the next two years. The investments will be the company to expand the production capacity in 28%, reaching 640 thousand tons until 2012. Today, the volume produced is nearly 500 thousand tons.
Last year, the company had already been invested R$ 143 million (US$ 84.1 million) in an older expansion project, suspended due to the crisis that erupted in 2008. A new line of cylinder heads and small engine blocks will begin to come into operation from this month. According to the president of Tupy, Luiz Tarquínio Sardinha Ferro, the demand for auto parts is pulling the resumption of growth of the company. "We have virtually 100% of capacity taken, but in the auto parts sector we are already overbooked", he says.
In the plant in Joinville, an area where Tupy is installed since 1954, the reheating of the demand caused the company to dismantle a warehouse of nearly 50 years, where a manufacturing of safety systems such as brakes, discs and suspensions was under operation. The work, expected to be completed in 2012, will house a new line of cast iron engine blocks in CGI, an alloy that allows lightness and strength in automotive projects. The line will have capacity of 120 molds per hour when in full operation. The investments will lead to the hiring of 450 new employees at the Santa Catarina unit.
In Maua (SP), where the industrial unit is more dedicated to the manufacture of large engine blocks for trucks, investments around R$ 25 million (US$ 14.7 million) are also expected. According to Tarquínio, the focus of investment in the unit of São Paulo is the modernization of the production process. In 2010, the company completed an expansion project of the machining area, with two new pavilions for lines of pre-machining and machining of engine blocks, especially the blocks of vermicular iron.
Sales to foreign markets, especially the United States, showed growth. Thus, the exports, that had a timid year in 2009, resumed representing 45% of Tupy revenues last year. For the president, while Europe does not give very positive signs of growth, the average of exports should be maintained throughout 2011.
Although the balance of 2010 is not yet complete, Tarquínio believes in a good year for the company. By the third quarter, Tupy had presented a net income of R$ 1.4 billion (US$ 823.5 million), higher than the R$ 865 million (US$ 439.1 million) earned in the same period of 2009. According to the president, the overall number of last year should close near to 2008, a year considered excellent for Tupy. That year, the company achieved sales of nearly R$ 1.7 billion (US$ 929 million).