Battery producer Centra to increase production

Poznan based Centra, the country's largest producer of car batteries, plans to increase its production considerably, from 8% of the primary market to 40% in 2006. In order to do so, the company intends to change its strategy and introduce production of lead belts, to be launched this month, on which the company has spent around zl. 5.2 million. "Until now, we have had to import lead belts from Britain. The investment will allow us to save around zl. 5 million annually," explained Centra's president, Malgorzata Majewska-Sliwa. She also said that in 2003 the company would manufacture 3.7 million batteries - 0.5 million more than in 2002. Last year Centra signed a contract with a Ford factory in Southampton, UK, for the annual delivery of 200,000 batteries, which will also be of vital importance for the completion of the company's plans. (Puls Biznesu, p. 9) K.Z.