COFIDES supports Estructuras Titan Steel in its international expansion in Cuba

COFIDES will support the Madrid company Estructuras Titan Steel SL in the start-up of the Teconsa joint venture in the Mariel Special Development Zone in Cuba.

COFIDES will grant a joint venture loan, structured through the Cuba Facility of €220,000 from its own resources. The total investment of the project amounts to €12.4m, of which €4.4m are from its own resources.

Estructuras Titan Steel is a Madrid-based SME established in 2004. Its main activity is the design and commercialisation of metal structures of light steel material used as an alternative to concrete, especially in developing countries with high volumes of construction.

In 2012, the company reached an agreement with the Cuban company COMETAL that allowed them the use of the Estructuras Titan Steel software for the design of light steel structures, so the structures commercialised in Cuba are manufactured in the country, whilst R & D development, product design and production control is performed in Spain. Titan Steel has broad international experience, and since 2012 has seen a significant part of its revenues come from abroad, mainly Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Ecuador and Venezuela.

FIRST JOINT VENTURE WITH SPANISH CAPITAL TO BE DEPOLYED IN THE ZEDM

This is the first Spanish company to gain authorisation to establish itself in the Mariel Special Development Zone (ZEDM) through a joint venture formula rather than the traditional alternative of 100% foreign capital. By doing so, Estructuras Titan Steel owns 60% of the capital and the Cuban Ministry of Industry 40%. The contribution of the Ministry offers the joint venture a local platform, that ensures a greater degree of construction system penetration in all the investment plans of the country, amongst which stands out the hotel sector’s ambitious plan. The corporate purpose of the joint venture also includes window manufacture, enclosures and sandwich panels, which will cover a large part of the construction.

The ZEDM is an area with special regimes and policies, with a view to encouraging the nation’s sustainable economic development by attracting foreign investment, technological innovation and industrial concentration

COFIDES launched the Cuba facility in 2015, following the incentives for foreign investment that were being introduced by Cuba, as well as the interest that Spanish companies showed in entering this market.

After the signing of the financial agreement, COFIDES Chairman, Salvador Marin, said, “This project falls within our clear mandate of financial support to Spanish companies’ internationalisation projects. In this sense, and within the framework of COFIDES´ own growth, we will continue to support our companies so that they can establish themselves and therefore become stronger and more competitive globally, which will undoubtedly reinforce their home market in Spain”.

Estructuras Titan Steel President, Ramón Secades, said “The Cuban market offers us a great opportunity to grow in our sector, and with COFIDES support and, consequently, the Spanish government’s, this all helps us to meet this challenge”.

COFIDES is a combined private-public concern, which since 1988 has provided financial support to Spanish enterprises abroad. COFIDES manages the FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the State Secretariat for Trade, within The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. The stockholders include the Bank of Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Santander Bank, Popular Bank, Sabadell Bank and CAF (Development Bank of Latin America).