| Article: |
Hoping to continue with the success it has found in China, Italy’s Prysmian announced that its goal is to achieve growth there of 50 percent by 2010, a plan that will see the company investing approximately US$156 million via ongoing investments it has made there the last few years and more to come.
“We have been present in China for more than 10 years, since the opening of the first production plant in 1997,” said Prysmian Group CEO Valerio Battista. “We have always believed in the huge potential of this country, which we consider one of the main areas for our group’s strategic growth. This confidence has been well rewarded as China was among the countries where we achieved the best performance of turnover in 2007, with an increase of 16 percent from 2006.”
As noted above, the company has been quite active already in China, with major projects including: the cabling of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Village; high voltage networks for the China State Grid in several cities and the cabling of the Beijing’s underground.
Future growth
The company notes that its growth strategy in China has led to a new organizational and company structure, including the creation of a holding company (Prysmian China Investment Co. Ltd.) as its China headquarters. That entity will link the group’s five main companies operating in the country, with five production facilities, which includes its new plant in Tianjin, and over 1,000 employees, the release said.
The goal is to focus on development in higher added-value and technology content sectors that can benefit from strong economic growth and ongoing investments in infrastructures promoted in the country, the release said. Sectors it highlighted include:
Industrial cables. Prysmian’s strategy here is to leverage its new Tianjin plant, which has about 300 employees and an annual production capacity of approximately 10,000 tons. The Tianjin plant makes special cables for sectors such as oil and gas, railways, mining, wind farm and nuclear energy.
Telecom cables. Prysmian plans to develop the Chinese domestic market (currently the most significant part of the Wuxi plant’s production is exported), in particular through the supply of fiber optic cables for the development of local telecom networks and Fiber to the Home.
Power cables. The greatest Chinese cable growth is expected in the segments of high and higher voltage cables and systems with high transmission power (up to 500 kV) industrial cables, where an increase of 15 percent is expected in the next three years.
Emphasis in China and outlook
Prysmian is looking at the Chinese market as more than just a manufacturing or supply base. “In China we wish to grow as a company strongly rooted in the territory and not as foreign group,” said Prysmian China CEO Paolo Bazzoni. “That is why we are investing both in the development of production facilities and technological know-how, as well as in further growth of local human resources, which represent our most important asset.”
The Prysmian Group already ranks among the top Italian multinational groups in China, with a turnover of approximately US$235 million in 2007, the release said. Formerly Pirelli Cavi, Prysmian’s presence in China dates back to 1997 with the opening of its first joint venture manufacturing company, it said.
With regards to the structure, the new holding company will improve the activities’ management of the group of companies and plants in China, particularly in the purchase, commercial, finance and human resources department, to support the growth through a more efficient organization, the release said. Prysmian is also engaged in the improvement of high profile local resources through know-how development programs and training programs in technological and in commercial areas, it said.
Prysmian is pursuing further development in the renewable energy sector, with investments in the special cables sector including the acquisition of the Angel Group’s assets in 2006. Major projects it is currently involved with include the supply of special cables for the new Chinese high-speed trains and supplying products for Beijing’s underground cabling.
The investments made and to come are important for Prysmian to be able to serve the Chinese market, which represents about 20 percent of the global cables market, a percentage expected to grow, the release said.
“Now, with the new organizational structure and new production facilities, we are ready to seize more significant increase opportunities, ensuring the development of new infrastructures for energy and telecommunications,” Battista said. |
