GALWAY-BASED engineering group CF Tooling has opened a second facility in the Philippines and flagged a third plant there to help it launch its wind turbine business in Asia, which will also mean expansion of its Irish operations.
“We will build our wind turbine business in Asia out of the Philippines,” CF chief executive John Flaherty told an opening ceremony at the group’s steel service centre in Cavite, an industrial zone outside Manila.
“The technology and precision parts will come from home, like the alternators and electronic controllers, and we’ll do the blades and the masts here.
“We’re not moving manufacturing out of Ireland, we’re planning to expand in Ireland to meet demand from our growing global green energy business,” he said.
The new steel service centre allows CF to buy in bulk directly from the mill, and process its own steel, leaving it less sensitive to monthly price changes for steel.
Ollie Freeney, the executive who runs the Philippines operation, said the group was aiming to open a facility later this year to build turbines for the Asia market, making it the first wind turbine company in the Philippines.
“This steel processing plant represents an investment of $2.5 million (€2 million) and it has capacity for 30,000 metric tonnes of steel per year,” said Mr Freeney.
“We’re also upgrading our machinery here, we are expecting $22 million (€17.75 million) in the Philippines this year. We’ve already done $9.5 million (€7.5 million), and this is the quiet half,” said Mr Freeney.
The opening ceremony included a full Mass and was attended by Lilia de Lima, director general of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, the government agency charged with attracting foreign investment into the southeast Asian nation.
CF’s main business in the Philippines is building cabinet frames and chassis for APC Schneider.
Mr Flaherty said last year was a key year in the building of CF’s business, with €96 million in revenues after €76 million in 2010.
This year, the company expects revenues of €170 million, of which wind turbine business will account for €45 million. He believes distributed power will play a huge part in the energy industry’s future.
“Next year we expect wind to be €100 million. It’s how well we can market this global product.”
