Guatemala. With an investment of US$18 million, the Solid Group inaugurated a new paint plant in the town of Puerto San José, with which it is expected to double the current production in all its brands.
During the opening ceremony of the plant, the president of the group, Michael Áscoli, said that with Superbia (name given to the industrial complex) the company will go from 13 million gallons of paint per year to 26 million.
Áscoli said that the company's plan is to increase sales in southern Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and then reach the Colombian market: "There we have to now, because of geography it is the market in which we want to compete with the goal of conquering the world."
The Superbia complex is located on a 65-block site where the multinational Texaco previously operated, will have a research and development laboratory, and its entry into operation will mean 100 new direct jobs that will be added to the 400 that the group already has.
The executive president of The Solid Group, Yara Argueta, said that the firm currently concentrates 95% of the Guatemalan market and 36% of the Central American market: "The goal is to reach 50% of regional presence and we think that next year we will grow between 3% and 5%".
The company's investment plan also involves an injection of an extra US$2.2 million to expand the warehouse that will be located in the old formulation plant and, in addition, improve the fleet of trucks and acquire state-of-the-art equipment.
