The Dutch Development Bank, FMO, supports the export of Aircrete Europe’s AAC panel production technology to Brimax Argentina. A EUR 4.8 million loan will finance (part of) the production equipment as well as the commissioning of the equipment at the recently established Aircrete AAC panel plant, Brimax.
Together with leading regional construction and development companies Grupo Brayco and Pecam. Aircrete Europe is developing a new, state-of-the-art AAC panel (and block) plant with an initial capacity of 120,000m3 in San Lorenzo, Santa Fe, near the city of Rosario.
Janet Nieboer, Head of FMO NL Business: “Thanks to Dutch technology, home construction in Argentina is becoming more sustainable and cost efficient for a very energy intensive industry. Given the size of the Argentine market and the dominance of traditional bricks, the growth potential for Brimax is huge.”
As the key technology and joint-venture partner to the project, Aircrete not only designed and built the plant, but also closely involved in the start-up of the operations of the plant, including the training of local plant staff. For Aircrete Group, the investment in Argentina means an expansion of its portfolio of investments in Latin America, following Mexico and Brazil.
Affordable Housing Projects in Argentina
AAC has a very small share of the Argentina market for building materials at approximately 3%, but this is forecast to double and to gain further momentum with the Brimax investment due to the technology’s energy efficiency and cost advantages. The new plant will be able to address the severe shortage of high-quality, social housing in Argentina. The initial AAC products will provide the masonry for approximately 6,000 affordable houses of 50m2 annually. The plant aims to create around 100 direct jobs in the region. The design of the plant allows for an upgrade up to 400,000m3 in the future.
Daniel van Maanen, CFO of Aircrete said: “Argentina is the third country in Latin America, after Mexico and Brazil, where Aircrete is active. We have designed the factory in such a way that Brimax has the flexibility to easily and rapidly increase production capacity and also manufacture complete lightweight concrete panels.”
Please click here to read more about the press release from FMO.
