Siemens invests US$ 40 million in Jundiaí
Valor Econômico - 06/19/2008
The Jundiaí (SP) plant has really become one of the favorites of German multinational Siemens. As it became a global platform for energy transformers last year, the operation not only entered the route of the large deals of the company, it has also received more and more investments from the group. In the accumulated between 2006 and 2009, for example, Siemens will have invested close to R$ 280 million (US$ 152 million) in the São Paulo unit. But despite a good part of the sum having already been spent, the fact is that there is a considerable amount yet being invested. This sum includes the allocation of funds of US$ 40 million, equivalent to almost R$ 80 million, which will be used in the expansion of the production of mid-sized transformers used in Small Hydroelectrical Centrals (PCHs), in collection substations of ethanol plants, in aeolian plants and in large industries. Besides the transformers, which will consume most of the resources, Jundiaí will have, with this investment, manufacturing lines of isolating material, and tension and transformer regulators used in large electricity plants. According to Arthur Lavieri, Siemens director in the Mercosur for the transformers business, these enlargements will be in operation in March, 2009. And, notwithstanding the inclination of the Jundiaí unit to export, the officer says the main destination of the mid-sized transformers will be the domestic market, since the PCHs and alcohol plants' demand for energy is increasing around here. However, this new line of transformers for large-sized power plants will only be open in Jundiaí because the operation is global. Among the units of the German multinational spread out through the world there are only three suppliers of transformers for large-sized plants in the world. Namely: Jundiaí, one plant in Austria and another in Germany. And these are the plants Siemens will use to achieve a share of the global market of transformers that handles US$ 40 billion a year. This status of global platform of Jundiaí has brought representativeness to the transformers in the exports of the Siemens from Brazil. Last year, for instance, the German multinational shipped R$ 620.7 million (US$ 321.6 million) and one fourth resulted from the sales of this equipment to other countries.