SAERTEX is investing four million Euros in the Portugal location: In Viana do Castelo, north of the port city of Porto, the company will build a two-floor production and administration building on a property of more than 1 hectare. The total floor space amounts to 11,000 square meters. The new production facility will be equipped with six machines for the manufacture of textile high-performance composite fabrics (NCF) from glass, carbon, and aramid fibers. 25 new jobs will be created. The news is also pleasing to Jose Maria Costa (image left), mayor of Viana do Castelo.

The enormous demand for carbon fiber reinforced plastic components (CFRP) has kept the SAERTEX location in Portugal working at full capacity since 2008. The wind industry on the Iberian Peninsula in particular relies on components made of SAERTEX fabrics. The SAERTEX Group is now taking this development into account. In the future, customers will profit from shorter delivery routes and faster reaction times; currently, they are in some cases delivered from Germany so as to keep up with demand. The new plant is expected to go into operation in the fall of 2012.

The photo shows Bruno Lammers (middle), Executive Director of the SAERTEX Group, and Jose Maria Costa (left), mayor of Viana do Castelo, at the signing of the purchase agreement.