SAO PAULO, BRAZIL — Sandretto Industrie SpA of Torino, Italy, and Brazilian machinery manufacturer IrmÃŒos Semeraro Ltda. are working on a joint venture to make and sell injection molding presses in Brazil and the Mercosul region.
Details of the venture, which the companies expect to conclude in the next few months, are still being discussed. Sandretto officials in the United States had no comment.
Sao Paulo-based Semeraro already has a licensing agreement with Sandretto that allows it to manufacture the Italian company's equipment in Brazil.
Mario Manzo, Sandretto commercial director, said the joint venture may include selling certain press models to the United States and Asia.
Semeraro's commercial director, Guido Pelizzari, said its industrial plant in Brazil is the only unit to produce Sandretto injection presses outside Italy, where Sandretto has three facilities.
``Sandretto has a global expansion plan. The joint venture we are discussing is part of it,'' Pelizzari said. Sandretto USA earlier this year announced plans to make presses in Pittsburgh.
Brazil represents Sandretto's second-largest market after Italy, Manzo said.
Semeraro claims to be the biggest press manufacturer in Latin America, where it produced more than 300 units in 1997, in addition to the imported machines it sold. The company also represents Johnson Controls Inc.'s Uniloy-brand equipment, producing several models.
Worldwide sales for Semeraro totaled US$90 million last year.