Injection moulding machinery manufacturer Ferromatik Milacron (D-79364 Malterdingen; www.ferromatik.com) lifted sales in the 2004 financial year by 1-2% to around EUR 100m. Business with the US accounted for some 10% of earnings, Karlheinz Bourdon, managing director of Ferromatik Milacron and president of global plastics machinery at US parent company Milacron (Cincinnati, Ohio / USA; www.milacron.com), said at this year´s open house. He declined to reveal earnings, but said that the balance in 2004 was positive, as has been the case in most recent years.

Some 35% of the machines from Malterdingen are sold in Germany, another 27% are marketed in other western European countries. Most of the remaining 38% go to the US and China, whereby the latter market now accounts for 10%. Around 20% of the machinery delivered worldwide is now all-electric. In this segment, the company now claims market leadership. Bourdon said he is certain that “the time is ripe for all-electric.”

In July 2005, Ferromatik will open a new sales and service centre in Shanghai. There are also plans to build a plant in China for injection moulding machines of 500 t and above, but as yet there is no fixed timetable. The company stresses the imporance of being present locally. In Europe, the focus for the current financial year will be on further developing core competencies, which are high-performance injection moulding and multi-component techniques. Expansion of its market leadership in all-electric machines is another target.