New plant of Invista to require US$ 100 million
Valor Econômico
Within the strategy of strengthening of the businesses in the high-growth markets and to face the competition of the imported products in the textile sector, Invista, a subsidiary of the American group Koch, plans to invest nearly US$ 100 million in the construction of a new plant in the city of Paulínia, in the interior of São Paulo. Expected to be concluded in 2012, the new unit will be part of an industrial complex that already has two other plants. The focus of the complex is the production of Lycra yarn. "We are betting in Brazil. Our strategy is the expansion and modernization of the production in the country", told Valor the International Executive Vice President of the clothing area of Invista, Don Burich.
Without informing the increase of capacity the new plant will promote, the Executive states the unit will host new technologies developed by the company in its two research and development centers in the United States and China. According to the Vice-President, Brazil presents a broad and diversified market, which allows innovations that generate added value and differentiate of the high competition from cheaper Asian products. Besides the complex in Paulinia, the textile businesses of the group also have a production in Americana, also in the interior of São Paulo, where the Supplex and Tactel yarns are produced. The structure of the area in the country is the largest in Latin America, surpassing Mexico and Argentina, where the company also has plants.
The productive expansion in Brazil follows an overall strategy of the company, of strengthening in the countries with high market potential. Last month, the multinational announced investments of more than US$ 200 million in the expansion of a plant in China. Today, the Brazilian textile industry generates nearly US$ 50 billion a year and the earnings of the companies in the sector grew more than 9% last year. Of the amount, a little more than US$ 1 billion is represented by artificial and synthetic fibers. In view of the cost of the raw materials and the competition of the imported products - stimulated by the exchange rate - 2011, however, will be marked by a slowdown in the pace of growth of the sector, according to projections of the Brazilian Association of the Textile Industry (Abit).