SCHWERTBERG, AUSTRIA — Engel Holding GmbH, the Austria-based injection molding machine manufacturer, reported record turnover for the 2012-13 financial year. Speaking at a pre-K press conference at Engel's Schwertberg headquarters on Monday, Engel's CEO Peter Neumann said the firm had achieved a global turnover of 950 million euros ($1.24 billion), an increase of 14 percent year-on-year.
"We never anticipated such fast recovery from the 2009-10 financial crisis," said Neumann. "In a very short period we have grown up to a level of 950 million euros, the best year ever in Engel's history."
In the year preceding the economic collapse, Engel's turnover had been 622 million euros and dropped to 358 million euros in 2009-10. The record turnover is better than the company could have predicted after the downturn. "We said after the crisis we'd be happy to go back to the pre-crisis level of 622 million euros a year," said Neumann.
The jump in turnover represents an overall increase of 165 percent since 2009-10. And the company expects further growth of about 5 percent each year for the next three years.
Neumann credits the company's success to a maturity in the injection molding machinery market. "The world industry is moving towards higher quality, high technology products."
In the Asian market, Engel now has a reported 10 percent market share (by value) up from 2 percent in 2004. Neumann noted that the total market for injection molding machines in China has decreased.
"Why is China decreasing?" asked Neumann, "It's not that they are processing less. It is because they are moving to higher efficiency, higher technology machines.
"Europe is exporting more machines to Asia than Asia is to Europe. And European companies are producing more and more in Asia.
"There is a big decrease in the low-tech market. The Chinese industry is changing, the molders are changing more and more to the high-tech segment. This will go faster in the next few years. Consumers want to have the same quality on their products worldwide."
Europe remains Engel's largest market, where it holds 30 percent market share representing 65 percent of sales but growth in the Far East, which currently accounts for 18 percent of sales, remains Engel's priority. Neumann said: "Long term we have to grow in the Asian market as this is the only real long-term growing market."
In 2012 Engel extended its plant in Shanghai, to increase capacity to more than 250 Duo machines per year. And in March this year, it extended its plant in Pyungtaek-City, South Korea, to increase capacity to over 1,200 e-Mac, e-Motion, Insert and Victory injection presses per year.