EBRD grants EUR 25 mln loan for aircraft components manufacture in Romania

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced a EUR 25 million loan for Romania's aerospace industry. The loan will help Romanian Universal Alloy Corporation Europe (UACE) to produce metal aircraft components entirely in Romania.

Currently, the company sends unfinished parts abroad for machining, but with the new investment all major steps in the process – casting, extrusion and machining – can be carried out at the company's facilities in Dumbravita, Northern Romania. New plants will be built for the mechanical processing of aluminium profiles and their surface treatment. When work is finished in 2014, UACE will be able to supply aircraft manufacturers Airbus/EADS, Alenia and Boeing with components. “With UACE’s knowledge and expertise and the support of the EBRD, Romania will meet the strict requirements of the high-tech industry, an important step for it to become part of the global aerospace market”, said the EBRD Director for Romania Claudia Pendred. Major players in the aerospace industry predict that the air transport market will grow on average 5 percent a year over the next 15 – 20 years and the plans should help Romania be a part of this burgeoning industry. The EBRD also points out that the investments will help to develop engineering skills locally. “The demand for aircraft parts is likely to rise with the growth of the air transport industry that is expected to continue by almost 5 per cent per annum over the next 15 to 20 years globally, according to the largest aerospace manufacturers. This will maintain strong demand for new aircraft and consequently also for the aluminium parts produced by UACE over the medium to long term,” said the CEO of UACE John Ball. UACE is part of the Swiss-Austrian industrial group Montana Tech Components, one of the world’s four major producers of metal aircraft parts.Around 300 employees work at the UACE Dumbravita facility, which generated revenues of around EUR 24 million in 2011 and was named supplier of the year by Airbus. Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com