In January 2015, the Coatinc Company Holding (TCC) assumed a 49 percent share of a US corporation headquartered in San Diego, California. In the future, this corporation will operate galvanizing facilities that are currently being built in Tijuana in the Mexican state Baja California. The galvanizing plant will be launched under the name “Galvanizadora California.” An American corporation by the name of “California Galvanizing and Steel Structures” will undertake the sales.
The galvanizing facilities will use a kettle of 17.5 meters long. A monthly capacity of 4,000 tons is expected. The US market should be served up to 90 percent, mainly in the automotive, solar energy, and steel and metal construction segments. However, development of the Mexican market should be reinforced, too.
José Antonio Barrera, the new joint venture partner with a share of 51 percent and also the managing director of the company, has many years of expertise in galvanization in Mexico and was also the president of the Mexican galvanization association in the past. His many years of extensive experience should secure the success of the investment. His wife, Elena Maria Barrera, will operate the company’s own fleet of cars and, thus, be responsible for the transport and logistics area, especially for delivery in the USA.
A plot of land of approximately 120,000 m² has already been acquired. This will be a small industrial park that has production areas which metal and steel construction companies can lease in the future. These companies, called “Maquilas”, who manufacture products that require galvanization at Galvanizadora California, produce for the US market and export to the USA under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) conditions. Therefore, Galvanizadora California will be one of the most significant providers for galvanization services and a driving economic power in its region.
This new joint venture represents another consolidation of the TCC’s portfolio strategy in the growth markets. Besides the investments in Turkey, the Czech Republic and Slovakia it is also important for the internationally acting company to cooperate with an experienced local partner in Mexico.
“This investment is subject to our strategy aiming at maintaining our family company business and also strengthening it by a broad diversification”, says Paul Niederstein, Managing Director and Shareholder of TCC during the 5th generation. “In this case, investing in Mexico, a market that is intended to serve as a backup in case of a worse economy in our core markets of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium, will allow us to cope with economic downturns. The shareholdings very decisively contribute to TCC’s ability to compete – and, thus, the security of jobs in Germany, too.”
The family-owned Coatinc Company Holding, which has been existing since 1885, operates plants in eight locations in Germany and 10 more locations in the Netherlands and Belgium. The group employs around 1,000 employees in 18 100 % subsidiaries. In addition, TCC holds 10 shareholdings in companies in the growth markets of Turkey, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, and also in its core markets in Germany and Benelux. The spectrum of services covers all galvanization procedures (normal and high-temperature galvanization, centrifuge galvanization), powder and wet coating, duplex processes (galvanization plus powder or wet coatings) as well as other coating technologies (anodic oxidation, electrolytic oxidation of aluminum, and zinc flake coating).
