(center) John Peter Leesi, CEO of Luvata; Cristina Diaz, Mayor of Guadalupe; and Finn Johnsson, chairman of Luvata, lay the first foundations of the plant that will increase tube capacity in North America by up to 50,000 tons. (Click on the image for an enlarged view.)

NUEVO LEON, Mexico - In less than a year after announcing its intention to develop in Mexico, Luvata, a manufacturer of tubes, coils, and coolers for the HVACR industry, announced the official ground-breaking on its multimillion dollar copper tube manufacturing plant in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon (near Monterrey). Costing more than $40 million, the new facility will increase Luvata’s copper-tube capacity in North America by approximately 50,000 tons yearly.

According to the company, continued growth in the North American HVACR market has led to an increase in demand for high-precision copper tubes. As a major supplier of tubing and completed coil units in copper and aluminum, Luvata’s new plant is positioned to support its existing facility in Franklin, Ky., and to serve as a key production point for some of the group’s customers in the region.

“Luvata has historically been a leader in the global copper heat-transfer tubes market for the HVACR industry,” said Ron Beal, executive vice president of Luvata’s Tubes Business Unit. “Over the past year, Luvata has taken some major steps to further establish itself as a major HVACR supplier in North America, including a major business acquisition, innovative product development, and now the construction of a multimillion dollar state-of-the-art manufacturing facility.”

The new plant, which will create approximately 250 jobs, is expected to begin tube production in September 2008.

For more information, visit www.luvata.com.

Publication date:02/11/2008