Avio: Ranzo says US boost likely to bring in volumes exceeding our expectations
We will see in 2027 whether to increase the capacity of our plant
(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The impetus provided by US defence programmes, and in particular the US Navy’s latest major contract with the Raytheon Group worth 24.4 billion dollars for interceptor missiles, has made it clear “that there is now a growth opportunity which could extend beyond the programmes” that Avio already has underway with Raytheon itself, with Lockheed Martin and with the US Army, and that therefore “volumes could exceed those envisaged in our original plan”. This was emphasised by Giulio Ranzo, CEO of the missile and satellite propulsion group, when presenting the nine-month results to analysts. “There could be further programmes from each of these customers and higher-than-expected volumes for each of them,” he said. In the United States, Avio has just commenced work on a plant in Virginia that is expected to become operational in 2029. When asked by analysts about the possibility of Avio deciding to increase production capacity at the plant, the manager explained that the US facility will be “scalable” and can therefore “be built with a capacity up to three times that of the base model”, rising from 700 to 2,100 tonnes: “It is difficult to say when the right time will be to make a decision,” he said, but “I assume sometime in 2027”.
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