The Chinese group Hangyu Technology approved on 8 October the transfer to the Cité Mohammed VI Tanger Tech of a forging plant project originally planned in Slovakia, with a maximum investment envelope maintained at 105 million euros.
The investment, equivalent to about 862 million yuan or 1.15 billion dirhams according to figures provided by the company, is to cover production lines, workshops and equipment for manufacturing forged components for industry. The decision does not, however, mean that construction has started.
The Moroccan project remains at a preparatory stage. The company in charge of the project, provisionally named Atlas Advanced Materials, is not yet permanently registered. A land letter of intent has been signed, but no definitive land acquisition contract has been concluded, and the administrative authorisations as well as the building permit still have to be obtained.
Hangyu explained its departure from Slovakia by the addition of administrative controls that would have lengthened the timetable and increased uncertainty over the investment. The group says it checked with Moroccan authorities that the project would not be subject to an equivalent additional procedure, but it did not announce a start date or commissioning date.
The company plans to gradually inject 300 million yuan into its subsidiary Sichuan Delan Hangyu Technology Development to support the operation. This sum represents about 34.8% of the announced investment ceiling and does not correspond to immediate spending of the full budget.
Hangyu specialises in forged rings and complex components in superalloys or titanium, used notably in aircraft engines and gas turbines. Its subsidiary Delan Hangyu supplies international engine manufacturers, which could bring the future site into Morocco's aerospace supply chain if the authorisations and land are finalised.
The group has not published the expected number of jobs, the production capacity, the construction timetable or the amount that will actually be committed. The maximum investment also remains subject to the necessary authorisations in China and Morocco.