Brazil-based nonwovens producer Companhia Providência Indústria e Comércio has resumed work to
establish its first manufacturing plant in North America after suspending plans because of the
global economic crisis. An official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled to take place early in
2010. It was announced in September 2008 that Providência USA would be built in Statesville, N.C.,
and was expected to be operational by mid-2009
(See ”
Brazilian
Firm To Establish US Nonwoven Operation,” September/October 2008). The plant now is
expected to be up and running sometime during the first half of 2011.
“This announcement further underscores the company’s plans for expansion,” said Hermínio
Freitas, CEO, Providência. “For some time now, we have been examining the company’s structure and
consequently its capacity, but with the world financial crisis, we had put new investments on hold.
In the past few quarters, we have noticed the increase in demand and the resumption of this project
will be instrumental in meeting this need — increasing our production capacity to 100,000 tons per
year.”
The scale of the project is smaller than originally planned, but the still significant
expected investment of $80 million will include land and a 90,000-square-foot facility as well as
machinery. Planned installed nonwoven fabric capacity is 20,000 tons per year, and the plant will
employ 56 people.
“At the revised investment and jobs level, Providência USA still represents the largest new
capital project in Statesville in more than a decade,” said Bill Leach, chairman, Greater
Statesville Development Corp. “We certainly understand and are sympathetic to the economic
conditions that [led] to delaying the start of construction and the changes in capital investment.
We are happy that the company never lost confidence that Statesville was the right place and
continued to work with us to find the right time.”
December 8, 2009
