Apr 27 2007
Radici Novacips, a RadiciGroup company operating in the plastics market, is starting up RadiciPlastics (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. this month in Suzhou, China (in Jiangsu province, about 80 Km northwest of Shanghai).
This will be the first RadiciGroup production plant in China. The Group has had a sales unit in China since 2003, when RadiciChem Shanghai was created to commercialize the Group’s products in the chemicals, plastics and synthetic fibres markets.
RadiciPlastics Suzhou will extend over an area of about 13,000 square metres and will employ approximately 40 people. Initially, the new plant will produce polyamide compounds (Radilon® PA6 and PA6,6 product ranges). Other products, such as polyesters (Raditer® PBT product range), may be added in the future, so the firm can offer the complete RadiciGroup product range for the plastics market.
The products manufactured at RadiciPlastics Suzhou will go toward meeting the large and ever rising demand for engineering plastics in the Chinese market. From 2003 to 2008, the average growth rate of polyamide
consumption in China is expected to be 13%. The driving force behind this huge demand comes mainly from the automotive applications market: it is estimated that the number of automobiles made in China will jump from 5 million in 2005 to 10 million in 2010.
Besides the automotive industry, a sizeable contribution to the growth of plastics demand will come from the electrical and electronic components sector.
Finally, we should not forget the Olympic Games to be held in Beijing in 2008 and the related development of infrastructure needed to accommodate millions of tourists and travellers. The expansion of rail transport is yet another factor that will spur demand for engineering plastics in this Asian country.
“Suzhou was selected as the site for our new plant,” said Cesare Clausi, Global Account Manager of RadiciGroup plastics sector, “primarily because there is a large number of companies in the area specializing in the automotive sector. This choice falls within our corporate customer service strategy: we aim to meet our customers’ demand for the same products with the same consistent quality worldwide. Our production plant in China will also give us several logistics advantages. Our customers will be able to count on us as a reliable partner guaranteeing fast delivery, dependable pre-sale and post-sale service and effective technical assistance.”
“We carried out the plant study and design with quality, flexibility and efficiency as our guiding criteria,” said Silvio Dorati, Supply Chain Manager for the plastics market, “always keeping in mind our customers’ needs.”
“The Suzhou area,” added Cesare Clausi, “is one of most developed in all of China, not only from the point of view of industry, but also due to the presence of technological research and development parks, the high education level of the population and the availability of highly skilled labour. These are among the many factors that we considered in deciding where to set up the new company.”
“The Suzhou plant,” concluded Maurizio Radici, Vice-President of RadiciGroup, “is an important step not only for Radici Novacips, but also for the entire Group. The Chinese market is, in fact, an extremely attractive market with great potential, capable of drawing future investment related to other RadiciGroup business areas, such as chemicals, synthetic fibres and textiles.”