China’s Hisense (Qingdao, Shandong; www.hisense.com) plans to expand its plant in Valjevo, Serbia, with more than EUR 40 mn in investment in a new production facility. As of next February, refrigerators under the brands Gorenje, Hisense, and Asko are are to be produced on an additional floorspace of 30,000 m². Over the next three years, a further 1,000 jobs are to be created at the site, which already employs around 1,600.

“Since the first factory was opened in Valjevo 16 years ago, we have produced more than 9 mn refrigerators and freezers – we exceeded the 950,000 appliances mark in 2021 alone”, the company said, noting that 750,000 refrigerators are expected to be made annually at the new facility. Overall production at all three plants in Valjevo will then increase to 1.7 mn appliances per year by 2025. Of all the appliances produced there, 92% are exported to other European markets.

Since 2018, household appliance manufacturer Gorenje (Velenje, Slovenia) has belonged to the Hisense group, which makes entertainment electronics and household appliances and employs more than 90,000 worldwide. Hisense Europe (Velenje; www.hisense-europe.com) has production facilities in the Czech Republic along with its sites in Serbia and Slovenia.

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To ensure that the Velenje facilities can be better supplied with raw materials and parts arriving at the Italian port of Trieste on Cosco ships with goods for Hisense operations, the electronics and appliance maker has set up a rail-based container shuttle service with the shipping company. As of September, regular service is to be run on the route from Trieste to Velenje.

“We transport the products that are manufactured here in Europe not only to the European markets but also to Asia and America”, said Hanson Han, president of Hisense Europe. The company also announced that it is expanding its container terminal in Velenje.