CUDAHY, Wis., Dec. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ladish Co., Inc.
(http://www.ladishco.com) (Nasdaq: LDSH) today announced plans to invest
$16- $20 million to build a new investment casting foundry in Mexico. The
facility will produce titanium components and expects to supply aerospace
customers in Mexico, the rest of North America and worldwide.
Commenting on the decision, Kerry L. Woody, President and CEO, said
"Our unprecedented backlog of orders, approaching $600 million, coupled
with build- schedule requirements locked in by an array of long-term
agreements, has shaped this expansion strategy."
Company officials report that they are finishing due-diligence analysis
of several possible locations for the planned 55-60,000-square-foot plant.
The company expects to complete the site-selection process during the first
quarter of 2008. Woody said, "Mexico has the industrial infrastructure to
support aerospace. Different states in Mexico offer different advantages
and opportunities, so there are details that enter into negotiations before
final commitments can be made."
According to Randy Turner, President of Pacific Cast Technologies
(PCT), Ladish's investment casting operation located in Albany, Oregon,
"Our previously announced factory expansion in Albany will fully utilize
the space available for adding capacities. However, customer demand points
to the need for even more capacity. That's what's driving our decision to
extend PCT's capabilities into Mexico, because such a move meets customer
expectations for greater affordability and global presence."
Woody expects that the move to invest in a second North American
titanium investment casting facility will have a positive impact on the
company's established casting operation. "Since we acquired a second forge
shop in Poland in 2005, employment in our Wisconsin forging operation has
grown 10 percent. We anticipate an even stronger trend will be triggered at
PCT by opening a second investment-casting operation," said Woody.
Woody says air-framers, system integrators and first-tier suppliers in
supply chains Ladish serves are locating in Mexico. "It makes sense for us
to co-locate with customers in the emerging Mexican aerospace industry. In
fact, they expect it of us," he says. Woody adds that upon finalized site
negotiation the plant could be up and running in 14 to 20 months.
Ladish Co., Inc. is a leading producer of highly engineered,
technically advanced metal components for the jet engine, aerospace and
general industrial markets. Ladish is headquartered in Cudahy, Wisconsin
with operations in Wisconsin, Oregon, Connecticut and Poland. Ladish common
stock trades on Nasdaq under the symbol LDSH.
This release includes forward-looking statements that are made pursuant
to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Such forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from
those projected in them. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not
limited to, uncertainties in the company's major markets, the impact of
competition, the effectiveness of operational changes expected to increase
efficiency and productivity, worldwide economic and political conditions
and the effect of foreign currency fluctuations.
SOURCE Ladish Co., Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.ladishco.com
http://www.prnewswire.com
CONTACT:
Wayne E. Larsen of Ladish Co., Inc.,
+1-414-747-2935, Fax, +1-414-747-2890; or William J. Libby of
Libby Communications for Ladish Co., Inc., +1-231-755-4111, Fax,
+1-231-755-4144
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