Purcom invests in new plant to meet domestic demand
Valor Econômico
Purcom, specialized in products and services for the development of applications of polyurethane (PU), will build a new plant to meet the strong demand in the domestic market. The national group, headquartered in Barueri, in the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo known as "Grande São Paulo", purchased land in Araçariguama, in the interior of the State, where will be erected the future unit of the company. The expectation is that the new plant goes into operation as of 2013, with an investment of R$ 8 million (US$ 4.7 million). The investments in a new plant reflect the growth in the consumption of PU in Brazil, driven by the sectors of civil construction and infrastructure, besides the already consolidated markets, such as the automotive, the white line (refrigerators) and furniture (mattresses).
The current facilities of Purcom produce 1.2 tons a month of systems for the formulation of polyurethane applications, but the total capacity is twice as big, getting to up to 2.5 tons a month. With the new unit, the capacity will increase to something between 4 thousand and 5 thousand tons/month. "We're keeping an eye out for the market potential created with the My House, My Life federal program", said Palmeira. The company that has a technology center in Jundiaí (SP) is receiving an investment of R$ 9.7 million (US$ 5.7 million) of the Finep (State Studies and Projects Financing Agency) for its research projects on technology.
The company has a contract with the Fischer, a Santa Catarina-based company. In that partnership, the companies will build the structure of the walls of those houses with PU. "The saving on energy is much greater", explained Gerson Silva, also a managing partner of the company and person in charge of the development of new technologies of the company. In 2006, the company purchased the American Division of Arch Química that worked with PU in Brazil, which allowed greater scale gain to the company.
Founded in 2002, the group is considered the largest independent national company of made-to-order polyurethane systems, with no connections with the producers of raw materials. Purcom acquires raw material from large multinational producers such as Dow, Basf and Bayer, while, at the same time, it competes with them, since they also have PU system houses. With projected earnings of R$ 105 million (US$ 61.8 million) in 2010 (growth of 28% compared to 2009, if the estimates are confirmed), Purcom was responsible for the finishing (rugs) of Marcopolo buses in India.
In the last five years, Purcom invested R$ 2 million (US$ 1.18 million) to develop a production system, called Ecomate, which does not use HCFCS (Hydrochlorofluorocarbon) gas, thus assuring sustainability standards to the production. HCFC Gas, considered hazardous because it destroys the ozone layer, has been condemned in several countries and it should be banned from the Brazilian market as of 2013, according to the foreseen in the Montreal Protocol. Currently, the gas is still used in 90% of the polyurethane foams produced in the country.