Injection moulding machinery manufacturer Engel (Schwertberg / Austria; www.engelglobal.com) has announced a strong increase in 2017 sales as well as Major investments for further growth. In the 2017-2018 fiscal year (ending 31 March), the Austrian company's sales grew by 11% to EUR 1.51 bn. Although Engel posted the lion's share – 53% – of its sales in Europe, the company considers the markets in North America and Asia as its most important growth drivers. These regions accounted for 26% and 20% of turnover, respectively. In terms of market segments, packaging recorded the highest growth, followed by technical components. The workforce rose to 6,600 (5,900 in the previous year), of which more than half (3,700) are employed at three plants in Austria.

As part of its planned investments up to 2020 – see Plasteurope.com of 27.10.2017 – the northern production hall at its headquarters in Schwertberg will be extended by 11,500 m² by autumn, and a new and larger customer technology centre will be built. A total of EUR 160m will go into the expansion of the large machinery plant in St. Valentin / Austria. There, Engel had built an additional hall last year, which is dedicated to machinery assembly. A few weeks ago, construction also began on a new administration building and the further expansion of the assembly area, including the technology centre. In the course of this work, more space will be created for its lightweight composite technologies centre.

Another focus of the firm's investments involves its activities in Asia. In September 2017, it saw the completion of the expansion at Engel Machinery Shanghai – see Plasteurope.com of 09.10.2017. Engel is also enlarging the Changzhou facility of Wintec, its wholly-owned Chinese unit, which is planning to expand its distribution into the US, Canadian, Mexican and Brazilian markets in May of this year. "The production area in Changzhou will more than double," said Wintec managing director Michael Feltes at the "Chinaplas" plastics trade fair (www.chinaplasonline.com) in Shanghai. "In manufacturing alone, the workforce will rise by more than 60% by the end of 2019." The construction work will presumably begin in the autumn and the new area should become available in Q4 2019. For the first expansion of the plant, which was established four years ago – see Plasteurope.com of 15.04.2014 – an investment of EUR 10m is planned.