| Montreal
[Quebec], September, 2001
- As a follow-up
to various scenarios currently circulating in the
Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, Dr. Alfredo Riviere,
President of Sural Group, today confirmed key elements of
a plan to create, in the Aluminium Valley, a unique Centre
for the development and commercialization of light
materials. This new business, Tramal Inc., will be
dedicated to the development and commercialization of new
manufacturing processes for mechanical and structural
automotive parts in aluminium, composite materials,
technopolymers. It will specialize in the formulation of
solutions for the automotive and transportation
industries. Investments totalling several tens of millions
of dollars are forecasted over the next ten years.
The Centre's main
activities will include the further development of the
SANGS (TM) technology, a revolutionary material that was
developed in the last five years, with an investment of
over $30 million, resulting in several patents.
"The Centre brings
together in the Ville Saguenay, the expertise of companies
who are world leaders in their respective fields,"
said Dr. Riviere. "The Centre will provide lighter,
more cost effective parts for the automobile and transport
industries, with physical properties that conform to the
requirements of both today's vehicles, and those of the
future. In addition, we have highly qualified human
resources in Saguenay to ensure that we meet these high
standards of quality. "
The Centre, which will
create some 25 highly specialized jobs in the region in
the short term, will pave the way for establishment of
companies with an interest in manufacturing parts
developed at the Centre, with the potential for creating
some 400 high quality specialized jobs in the
transformation sector over the course of the next few
years.
The consortium will
consist of both Québec-based and international partners,
who foresee injecting several tens of millions of dollars
in both equipment and operating expenses over a period of
ten years. The partners are to launch the project during
the autumn of 2001, with construction starting in the
spring of 2002 and operations commencing near the end of
that year.
Private partners in the
consortium include: Sural Group, specializing in the
transformation of metals and minerals. With its head
office in Venezuela, Sural has operations in many
countries throughout the world, as well as a plant and
offices in Québec; Bühler Druckguss, a renowned Swiss
manufacturer of high precision, metal moulding equipment;
BWE Ltd., a British manufacturer known for its specialized
continuous extrusion equipment; Vézina Composites Inc., a
Québec company with composite material products developed
for large international companies; and KPM S.p.A. of
Italy, world leader in the use of technopolymers in the
manufacturing of pneumatic parts for industrial automation
equipment.
Sural is currently in
discussions with other investors, who may join the
consortium. In addition, this project will benefit from
financial support from the Government of Québec, in the
form a loan from Investissement Québec, as announced in
the most recent Budget.
The Centre will work
within the dynamic of an automobile industry that has put
a high priority on the reduction of the weight of cars.
"The future looks very promising for our field of
expertise," said Dr. Riviere. The automobile and
transport industries are confronted with environmental
challenges that necessitate the production of lighter cars
that consume less gasoline. It is a market in full growth.
Our Centre intends to take its place rapidly at the heart
of this industry, as a leader and a North American centre
for unique solutions."
SOURCE : Navtej Saluja,
Président Sural Canada (514) 339-2499
INFORMATION: Nicole
Delorme : (514) 843-2379 / Martine Dorval : (514) 843-2335 |
