Chesterfield, UK - TMAT Ltd says there is around $10 million of business in Brazil for it to pursue, following a trip to the country by managing director of the manufacturer of acoustic components for tractors and excavators.
MD Jason Lippitt spent a week holding meetings with potential Brazilian customers, as the company considers opening a facility there. Lippitt said in a 24 April news release that he was told that the nature of the administrative obstacles that Brazil-based OEMs face make the idea of TMAT setting up a factory in the country very appealing to them, as opposed to them to importing the product.
TMAT referred to the Brazilian public financial credit support scheme that offers attractive financing conditions that favour local production and content, heavily taxing imported parts. He noted that the components and parts needed by OEMs cannot always be sourced locally, meaning companies are being heavily taxed for importing vital elements.
If TMAT was to set up a factory there, then the acoustic components it manufactures would be considered to be locally sourced, thereby creating substantial savings for the OEMs, Lippitt noted.
"The evidence of construction - or planned construction - is everywhere you go in Brazil, which is absolutely fantastic to see," Lippitt commented. "The fact is, though, that red tape, cumbersome logistics and taxes on imports are a real obstacle to construction actually getting under way, let alone completed, ahead of the fast-approaching World Cup and Olympics."
However, Lippitt said he is "very heartened" by the desire for people to do business with the company.
TMAT engineers solutions to noise, vibration and harshness for agricultural, construction, and earthmoving markets, including the STW 100 polyurethane system used to create a honeycomb-shaped elastomer floormat.
