Toora expands Polish operations

Aluminum car-parts manufacturer Toora Poland has announced that it will be taking over all international production activities from mother company Toora Italy. This should result in a 50-percent revenue growth for the company in 2007, to a predicted zł.430 million.

The decision is a change of course for the group, which had previously planned to maintain existing production activities in Italy and only conduct new production in Poland. However, the higher productivity of Toora Poland persuaded the board that transferring production was in the group's interest.

"We are convinced that our strategic choice to come to Poland four years ago was right, and now we are going even one step further, implementing a new business plan and accelerating the development of the Polish company," said Francesco Taglietti, president of Toora. "The conditions in Poland on the macroeconomic level, as well as within Toora Poland, are most favorable to our new strategy."

Żory-based TMP Fonalmec Poland, a company fully controlled by Toora Poland, has already started some activities previously conducted in Italy. The entire transfer should be complete by the end of 2007. The group's Italian plant will retain its design and testing roles, as well as some die-casting and engineering work.

In order to facilitate the transfer, Toora estimates it will have to increase employment from the current 900 to 1,150.

The group also has plans to accelerate the creation of an independent engineering department in Poland.