70 million investment

Palfinger plans second Slovenian site

A new plant is to be built.

(Bild: APA/Barbara Gindl)

The Salzburg-listed crane manufacturer Palfinger is now planning a second production site in Slovenia. The company is to invest up to EUR 70 million in a new production facility in the small town of Ormož in the north-east of the country. Palfinger currently operates a plant in Maribor, Slovenia.

The way for the Palfinger plant is to be paved next week - the Slovenian government will sign a "Memorandum of Understanding" with Palfinger, which will make state subsidies possible. "The government agreed to the signing of the memorandum yesterday, Thursday, in order to secure the continued existence and further growth of the company in Slovenia," according to a statement from the Slovenian Ministry of Economy.

The memorandum of understanding is to be signed on Wednesday in Ormož by Palfinger COO Alexander Susanek, the Slovenian Minister of Economy Matjaž Han and the Mayor of Ormož, Danijel Vrbnjak.

New training and logistics center planned
Palfinger plans to invest up to EUR 70 million in the new plant by 2028 and at the same time maintain the existing plant in Maribor, which has become too small for the volume of business. The new site is to be expanded in several phases by 2035 and, in addition to the construction of a new production facility, will also include the construction of a training center and a logistics center.

Possible state subsidies for the investment are also to be defined in the plan. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, however, this does not yet constitute a concrete commitment for state subsidies. This will be decided in the usual procedures, it said.

Palfinger has been operating the plant in Maribor since 1993. With around 900 employees, it is one of the largest production facilities of the Austrian group, according to a Slovenian daily newspaper. "The plant's capacities are fully utilized and expansion is not possible at this location. The company therefore examined several other locations in the north-east of the country before deciding on the recently expanded industrial zone in Ormož," it said.