Teknia to join Brazilian production in a new plant
Valor Econômico 09/03/10
The Spanish group Teknia Manufacturing is investing R$ 20 million (US$ 11.4 million) in the construction of a plant in Brazil to concentrate most of the local production of plastic, print, machined and injected parts and tubular sets for the car industry. The new unit that will start operating in the second half of 2011 will be built in an area of 145,200 square meters located in Jacareí (SP), municipality 80 km from São Paulo.With projected global earnings of € 200 million in 2010 and 17 plants in five countries, the subsidiary Teknia Tecnotubo has two units in São Paulo that will be transferred to the new Jacareí complex. According to the Director of the Corporate Strategy of the company, José Carlos Golin, the 240 employees of those units will also be incorporated to the new plant, where it is foreseen the hiring of another 400 employees. "We have decided to concentrate our activities in a single place for a strategic issue of dilution of costs and also for the ease of logistics because Jacareí is at a privileged location, near the main clients of the Teknia group", explains the Director. According to Golin, the construction of the new plant meets the need for physical expansion of the current facilities, aiming at the growth of 10% in the demand in 2010.
The global economic crisis, according to the Director, has greatly affected the businesses of the company in Brazil as of the end of 2008, but in the second half of last year the situation started improving. Currently, according to Golin, Teknia holds a 30% interest in the market of tubular parts and assemblies. "In the other markets, such as machining, printing and injection of plastic parts, we still have no estimate of projection of participation, because we will be starting such new activities as of the unit of Jacareí", he said.
The Director says, however, that there is an expectation of average growth of 10% to 15% in such market and Teknia is confident it may even triple its earnings in the coming years with the beginning of the production in the plant of Jacareí. "The Teknia Group wants to be present in the five continents and it has been investing in markets like Brazil, Eastern Europe and Northern Africa, besides two other offices in China where it will probably have a manufacturing unit in the future." Brazil, according to him, represents something around 12% of the earnings expected for 2010. The current volume of production is 850 thousand pieces a month, but that number should double as soon as the operation of the new plant is started. The Jacareí unit, located along the Presidente Dutra Highway, will have 48 thousand square meters and it will be built in two stages. The first stage, representing 40% of the total, will be ready in 2011 and the conclusion of the works is scheduled for 2015.