Mexico City — Chinese injection press maker Haitian International Holdings Ltd. is seeing strong growth in Mexico and expects this year to be its best yet for sales in the country.
In an interview at Plastimagen, Haitian's top executive in the country said the Ningbo, China-based firm set a previous record for sales in Mexico in 2016, at $35 million, and expects to top that in 2017.
"I can tell you that we will overtake these figures because big machines are coming more into our country," said Jose Antonio Barroso, commercial director of its Haitian Huayuan Mexico Machinery S. de R.L. de C.V. subsidiary. "This means the revenue of the machines will be higher and also the quantity."
He said last year the company sold 380 injection molding machines in Mexico and is on target to beat that.
"We have 370 sold already, and we have two months to go," Barroso said. "So, I believe we will reach around 400."
He attributed the growth both to overall strength in the Mexican market and gains that Haitian, which is China's largest maker of molding machines, has made in Mexico.
In 2016, the Mexico unit, which is wholly owned by its Chinese parent, was its third-most successful subsidiary, behind Turkey and the United States, he said. It has 90 employees in Mexico and is based in Tultitlán.
Still, Mexico remains a very small part of Haitian's global footprint. The company is one the world's largest suppliers of molding machines.
Haitian is publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and reported global sales of 5.037 billion yuan ($756 million) in the first six months of 2017 on what it said was strong growth in China and a "mild recovery" in the global economy.
At Plastimagen, showed three machines. Barroso said a focus was on two of them: a 450-ton two-platen model in its Jupiter series and a 190-ton all-electric Zeres model from Haitian's Zhafir subsidiary.
Automotive is the company's main market in Mexico, but Barroso said it's active in many end markets, including pharmaceutical, medical, construction and packaging.