ContiTech to build new hose plant in Serbia

ERJ staff report (DS)

Subotica, Serbia - ContiTech is to build a new automotive hose factory in northern Serbia, near the town of Subitica. The new plant represents an investment of over euro 10 million and is expected to be on stream by mid-2012. When it reaches full capacity in 2016, the plant will employ 300.

The

plant is to assemble hose applications for use by European automakers in

powertrain systems. In explaining why this site was selected, Matthias

Schönberg, general manager of ContiTech Fluid Technology, notes: "Subotica

is very well situated logistically for our customer base. The basic labor

market conditions are also right." The fact that it is close to sister

plants in Szeged, Hungary, and Timisoara, Romania, also offers advantages.

The plot for the production hall, which will have an initial area of 7,000

square meters, is located in the duty-free zone in Mali Bajmok industrial

park. ContiTech reckons with the commencement of construction of the factory

in November 2011 at the latest. The city of Subotica and the Serbian state

are providing investment support. Further expansion of the plant at a later

date is planned.

In 2009, ContiTech had bought the Serbian conveyor belt company Kolubara Univerzal and has since produced conveyor belts in Veliki Crljeni, south of Belgrade, for the Central and Eastern European market.