News
In late February, BLRT Grupp acquired a plot of land measuring 22.5 thousand square meters in Kohila Parish, Rapla County, to construct a state-of-the-art foundry. The land was purchased through an auction for about 181,000 euros. BLRT Valukoda, a subsidiary within the holding, will operate the newly built foundry.
For years, the holding has been supporting the operation of BLRT Valukoda. Currently, the foundry is the only major surviving foundry plant in Estonia, and it celebrated its 10th establishment anniversary in September 2023. As it happens, the need for larger and heavier cast blanks is increasing among the plant’s most significant customers from Scandinavia and Estonia. However, due to BLRT Valukoda’s limited equipment and production facilities located on the holding’s premises in Tallinn, the company is unable to cover this growing demand. As a result, it was decided to search for a suitable location with convenient logistics and storage facilities to construct a new foundry.
“Despite the challenging economic environment, BLRT Grupp continues to invest in widening its various fields of operation. We are pleased that in addition to expanding our production facilities for casting scrap and cast-iron blanks to meet our customers’ needs, we will also contribute to regional development by creating employment opportunities for approximately 70 people. We expect that most of those people will be from Kohila Parish,” Paul Gross, CEO of BLRT Valukoda, commented on the purchase.
The construction design is expected to be completed by the end of 2024, and the company anticipates obtaining a building permit within the same timeline. The plant’s completion is scheduled for early 2026; its estimated cost is around 14 million euros.
BLRT Valukoda is a subsidiary of the largest corporate family in the Baltic Sea region – BLRT Grupp BLRT. The company has about 30 employees and produces 1 million kilograms of blanks, with 90% of the total output being exported.