EoW July 2007

english corporate news

New Indian factory for Niehoff

Maschinenfabrik Niehoff opened a new plant in India at the beginning of February, representing an investment of US$1.5m. Located in a new industrial development area near Hyderabad and boasting production facilities spanning around 3,500m², the production area includes a manufacturing shop for mechanical components, a warehouse, a paint shop, an assembly area, a test area, and a showroom for machines and assemblies. The need for the building and its modern equipment arose when it became apparent that the manufacturing capacities of Niehoff of India (NoI) – Niehoff’s Indian subsidiary – had to be brought into line with the requirements of the growing Indian market and to be able to further expand NoI’s position as market leader in India.

The new Niehoff of India (NoI) factory

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Every year the Niehoff head office also ships goods to the value of some US$1.3m (€1m) direct to Indian customers.

The country is also a strategic location for the future of the Niehoff Group with a view to extending business operations to the surrounding countries, especially the Asian markets. NoI currently employs 43 staff and is expecting sales figures approaching US$ 6.6m (€5m) in the 2006/07 trading year.

Maschinenfabrik Niehoff GmbH & Co KG – Germany

Fax : +49 912297 7155 Email : info@niehoff.de Website : www.niehoff.de

Sale of Lati USA plant Lati USA Inc has completed its North American market reorganisation through the sale of the facility located in Deming Way, Summerville, South Carolina, to the company Force ProtectionTechnologies Inc. Lati USA will continue commercial activity across the North American market, distributing its materials from the plants of its parent company based in northern Italy. The new office will be located in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The company will focus its sales on high range compounds: special and high performance products. The new strategy provides that the production will be focussed on high performance compounds, which Lati is developing with intrinsically high performance resins, based on PEEK, PPS, PSU, PES, PPSU, PPA and PA12. The special products of the Lati range have particular features thanks to formulations which allow exclusive characteristics, such as antistatic or electrical conductivity (Latistat/Latiohm), electromagnetic shielding (Latishield), thermal conductivity (Laticonther), self-lubricating (Latilub), radio-opacity (Latigray), outstanding surface finish for structural materials (Latigloss), and controlled density (Latimass).

l Borouge plans for growth with new l marketing office in Singapore

Borouge, a provider of plastics solutions in the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa, has announced that it is moving its Singapore marketing company headquarters to a prestigious new location in the heart of the city, as of 2 nd April 2007. The opening of the new, larger office reflects the continued growth of the company’s production and sales activities in the region and the Middle East. The marketing company’s annual turnover exceeded US$1 billion in 2006. The high specification office, located in Singapore’s central business district, has an area of 30,000ft 2 – three times the size of the current office – and will eventually house up to 75 employees. The Singapore office provides leadership to its sales offices and distributor network in 18 countries across Asia Pacific and the Middle East, as well as business management, strategic development, human resource, customer service, regional sales for Asia Pacific, technical service and finance support. The location was chosen for its strategic geographic position, excellent infrastructure and strong global trading links. As part of the company’s strategic growth plans, the expansion of the Singapore office will provide the staffing and infrastructure resources required to support additional capacity coming online from Borouge 2, Borouge’s multi-billion dollar expansion project at its production site in Ruwais, in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This project is set to triple the company’s production capacity of polymers made using Borstar® technology to 2 million tons per annum by 2010. Borouge, through its parent company Borealis, has a history with Singapore which spans 15 years. The company first opened its Singapore headquarters in 1998, in Alexandra Technopark with around 10 staff. Today, the organisation has 55 staff, representing more than 10 nationalities.

Lati USA Inc – USA Fax : +1 843 881 8352 Email : info@us.lati.com Website : www.lati.com

Borouge – Singapore Email : info@borouge.com Website : www.borouge.com

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EuroWire – July 2007