Arconic-Kofem invests EUR 111m in capacity expansion

US automotive industry supplier Arconic’s Hungarian subsidiary Arconic-Kofem is investing 35 billion forints in a 17,000sqm production hall in Székesfehérvár (NW Hungary).

The Hungarian government is providing a 8.3 billion forint tax benefit for the project, Péter Szijjártó, the foreign affairs and trade minister, said on Wednesday at the start of the plant’s construction.

The investment will raise production of aluminium wheels by 500,000 units and create at least 200 jobs, Szijjártó added.

The new plant will ensure that Hungary remains a haven for the European automotive industry despite the significant competition for new investments throughout the continent and the world, he said.

After Germany, US firms are the second largest investors in Hungary. Some 1,700 US firms employ more than 100,000 people in Hungary, contributing to the Hungarian economy’s continued 4 percent growth, he added.

Arconic Inc CEO Chip Blankenship said construction work will conclude in 2019 and by that time headcount at the plant will rise to 700.

Arconic employs more than 2,200 workers in Hungary at its bases in Székesfehérvár, Nemesvámos (W Hungary) and Eger (NE Hungary). The company has invested 550 million dollars in Hungary since 1993.

Featured image: MTI

Source: MTI