Swedish polymer and syntactic foam specialist Trelleborg Offshore officially opens its new facility in Brazil next month. It will manufacture the company’s complete product portfolio, including polymer-based solutions for topside and subsea application.
Thor Hegg Eriksen, Trelleborg Offshore business unit president, said the decision to expand into Brazil was influenced by a recent survey commissioned by the company suggesting that 70% of future investment into the offshore oil & gas industry is now made outside the US and that Brazil is the second most likely location for future project investments. Around one in five of the 300-plus ‘senior industry stakeholders’ in 40 countries surveyed expected to be investing in this region over the next three years; 15% thought Brazil would take most of their company’s resources.
Eriksen commented: ‘This widening spread of the industry and the growing importance of operating territories in numerous regions and countries, means that even for suppliers that have established bases in the US it is becoming more and more difficult to provide the support that operating companies require in emerging areas. Suppliers must work harder than ever to provide on-the-ground support, effective delivery and local manufacturing in order to stay ahead of the game.