The R200-million investment in a new manufacturing facility in Germiston by Italian company Lucchini has been welcomed as a “vote of confidence in the South African economy” by acting head of Investment South Africa (InvestSA), Yunus Hoosen.
Speaking at Friday’s launch of South Africa’s first internationally owned forged wheel manufacturing facility, he said it was “heartening to see a foreign company investing in South Africa and contributing to job creation and economic growth”.
Referring to the company’s skills and supplier development programmes, he said: “We are aware that this investment has and will continue to create opportunities for skills and supplier development. Continuous programmes to upskill Lucchini’s employees will be creating relevant skills that must be sustained and optimised to leverage spill-over effects to other manufacturing sectors,” said Hoosen.
The R200-million investment marked Lucchini’s evolution from importer into local manufacturer, according to CEO, Augosto Mensi.
“Having actively traded forged railway wheels and axles in South Africa over the last 13 years, Lucchini has now committed to localising wheel machining in the country, and to subsequently creating local jobs,” he pointed out.
According to Mensi, the company expects to invest a further R1.8 billion as it seeks to expand further into Africa. “We see the investment into Lucchini SA as a first step of our expansion into Africa,” he said.
