Sarnia, April 8th, 2010 – H.C. Starck Canada announced today agreement for a significant repayable loan, through Ontario’s AMIS program, to expand its tungsten facility in Sarnia.
Ontario’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Sandra Pupatello, attended a ceremony at the H.C. Starck facility in the Sarnia, Ontario Chemical Valley, where details were announced.
“Helping Ontario companies transition to more advanced technologies and manufacturing processes is the key to success in today’s modern economy. We’re proud to support H.C. Starck Canada’s investment which will spur the company’s future growth and create new high-value jobs for Ontario families”, said Sandra Pupatello, Minister of Economic Development and Trade.
Dr. Axel Westerhaus, member of the Executive Board of H.C. Starck GmbH in Germany, the parent company of H.C. Starck Canada, added: “We want to thank the Province of Ontario for making an AMIS loan available to H.C. Starck Canada. The installation of innovative technologies in the Sarnia facility enables us to diversify our manufacturing site, bringing the production of innovative powder products closer to the North American Customers. Sarnia, Lambton is the location of choice for this investment due to the excellent local infrastructure and availability of a skilled workforce. Support through the AMIS program facilitated our decision making process and made the Sarnia investment interesting and attractive for us despite recessionary times.”
H.C. Starck is a leading producer of intermediates for the Hardmetal industry. Production of these powders in Sarnia began in 1997. Now, there is a particular focus on providing high tech powders to the drill bit industry for Oil and Gas drilling. Due to the excellent quality of its products, H.C. Starck has increased market share in this industry in North America, and so to better serve the customers, both know-how and manufacturing is being transferred to H.C. Starck Canada.
The investment project began in Q3/2008, but was suspended in Q1/2009 due to the global recession and particularly the decline of the North American Hardmetal market. Fortunately, this industry is recovering and we are confident to continue with the investment. The possibility to use the Ontario AMIS loan program facilitated the decision to complete the expansion project this year. We expect to complete our investment by Q3/2010.
The H.C. Starck-Group is an international Group of Companies supplying high-tech industries such as Electronics, Aerospace and Aviation, Medical Technologies, Energy and the Chemical Industry with highly sophisticated specialties made from metals such as Tungsten, Tantalum, Molybdenum and Niobium, Advanced Ceramics and Conductive Polymers. The company has 13 sites worldwide and employs some 3000 specialist. Total Sales in 2008 was around 860 million Euros.
The Advanced Manufacturing Investment Strategy (AMIS) is a $500 million repayable loan program to encourage companies to invest in leading edge technologies and processes. The AMIS program is intended to provide targeted financial support to eligible manufacturing firms in Ontario to undertake product and process innovation that directly leads to advanced manufacturing investment and job creation.
Contact:
H.C. Starck Canada Inc.
Carol Gilmurray
Managing Director
933 Vidal Street South
Sarnia/Ontario N7T 8H8
Canada
Phone: +519 346 4358
carol.gilmurray@hcstarck.com
H.C. Starck GmbH
Manfred Bütefisch
Vice President
Corporate Communications
38642 Goslar/Germany
Phone: +49 (5321) 751 3153
Fax: +49 (5321) 751 4153
Mobile: +49 160 886 09 53
manfred.buetefisch@hcstarck.com