Pneumatic components supplier Airtac International Group (亞德客) yesterday said it plans to increase capital spending next year to NT$2 billion (US$62.5 million), from this year’s NT$1.5 billion, to build up capacity.
“We plan to increase overall capacity by between 3 and 5 percent next year, in a bid to satisfy our customers’ increasing needs,” company spokesman Ivan Tsao (曹永祥) said by telephone.
Airtac operates three production bases in Tainan and China’s Guangdong Province and Ningbo city, with an annual production value of about 1.7 billion yuan (US$247 million).
The company this month bought a 154,305m2 plot of land in Ningbo that would be used for a second plant there, Tsao said.
The two plants in China mainly supply valves and air source processors, while the one in Tainan manufactures high-end products such as cylinders, Tsao said.
Besides capacity expansion, the Taipei-based company is also considering raising revenue contribution from outside China in an effort to broaden its customer base.
Airtac is the second-largest pneumatic component maker in China, with a 17 percent market share. Revenues from Chinese customers account for 90 percent of the company’s total sales revenue, Airtac data showed.
“However, Airtac only has a 2 percent share of the global market, which means there is still room for improvement,” Tsao said.
The company has sales offices in Italy, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Germany and the US.
Airtac plans to set up new offices in Spain and Vietnam in the next two to three years, Tsao said, without giving a sales target for the coming year.
Airtac yesterday posted sales of NT$940.2 million for last month, a 27.73 percent increase from a year earlier.
From January through last month, the company saw its revenue increase 21.2 percent to NT$9.72 billion from a year earlier, bolstered by soaring orders from its major clients.
The firm’s pneumatic components are used in various automated machines in the construction, automobile and electronics industries.
“Revenues from electronics makers grew about 50 percent from last year,” Tsao said, adding that sales contribution from the sector was 25 percent of total sales in the first three quarters of this year.
Airtac shares yesterday rose 1.26 percent to close at NT$242 in Taipei trading, outperforming the TAIEX, which declined 0.31 percent.
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