European masterbatch supplier Gabriel Chemie plans to double its production capacity in Russia during 2011.Last year, the company, based in Gumpoldskirchen, Austria, invested in new machinery to raise the capacity of white masterbatches and additives from 1,000 to 2,500 tpa at its plant in Dorokhovo, Russia. It also installed new laboratory equipment at the facility.
Now, the group’s 100% owned national subsidiary Gabriel Chemie-Rus-2 expects to expand the plant’s capacity this year to 5,000 tpa, it said.
“Russia is one of our target markets in the next business year and in the future. We will focus on expanding our sales team and consequently improve the service for our customers as well as investing in (new) equipment,” explained group chief executive DI Rodolfo Santa Olalla recently.
His company has appointed new senior local personnel in Russia including sales director Dmitry Grigoriev and plant manager Yury Gribanov. The local plant is located more than 80km south west of Moscow. The firm has national sales teams in Moscow and St Petersburg, Russia.
Gabriel Chemie is developing a number of new products for the national market and has been training employees in Russia at other plants including those in Germany and Austria. It has other production units in Britain, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
Last year, Gabriel-Chemie expanded again in Eastern Europe with the launch of a new laboratory near Warsaw in Poland.
The group, which employs an overall workforce of 467, has an annual turnover of more than €87m.
