ERBD helps TeraPlast grow in the Balkans

Brista, Romania – TeraPlast, which owns TeraSteel Serbia, which makes PU and PIR boards, has won EUR 16m from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

The money is being used to build a new plant for the TeraSteel division. This makes PU composite insulation panels.

EUR 5m will be used by TeraSteel Serbia to part-repay a loan used to set up its Serbian operation in 2017. At the time, Teraplast bought the assets of Interlemind, which was insolvent. That gave Teraplat a steel and PUR/PIR foam sandwich panel business in Leskovac, southern Serbia.

TeraPlast also decided to strengthen TeraSteel Serbia's balance sheet. It has increased its share capital increase by EUR 1.7m, according to group board chairman Dorel Goia.

A further EUR 6m of the EBRD grant will expand production and sales growth in Serbia and Romania. Last year, TeraSteel, which sells into 25 countries, exported goods worth almost EUR 30m.

The rest of the money will go to boost production at the group’s Romanian metal roofing tiles and profiles business.

The Romanian group started investing in TeraSteel Serbia in 2017. Since then, it has spent more than EUR 6.5m at the TeraSteel Serbia plant. It makes 2.2m m²/year PU insulated panels, the same capacity as the company's plant in Bistrita, Romania.

'The deal with EBRD is another vote of confidence towards the actions we are taking to improve competitiveness and increase the TeraPlast Group’s potential,' Goia said.

TeraSteel Serbia's main markets are in Bulgaria and the former Yugoslav nations. Other markets include Hungary and Greece.