Morocco’s Aeronautics Gets $ 20 Mln Investment from US Hexcel Corp.

Hexcel Corporation has announced plans to build a 117,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Casablanca, Morocco. The $ 20 million new facility will enhance Hexcel global engineered core capacity.

This project is part of the US company’s worldwide investment to create a diversified and robust global supply chain to support aerospace customers’ growing demand for engineered core.

Engineered core is formed and machined honeycomb material used for light weighting in structural applications such as aircraft secondary structures, nacelles, and helicopter blades.

Hexcel Moroccan plant will be built at the Mid Parc Free Trade Zone (FTZ) Industrial Park, located close to Mohammed V International airport where several Hexcel customers including Safran (Aircelle), Airbus (STELIA), Matis (a joint venture between Boeing and Safran) and Bombardier are operating.

Construction will start next spring and the plant is expected to be fully operational by mid-2017. By 2020, it is expected to employ more than 200 people.

Hexcel’s Chairman, CEO & President, Nick Stanage, said: “We believe engineered core has an excellent growth outlook and global upside potential”.

“This new plant will position us to win new business to supply engineered core for engines and nacelles and other commercial aerostructure applications”, he stressed, noting that Hexcel looks forward to “partner more closely with our key customer base in Europe, Middle East, Africa and North America through this new Moroccan centre of excellence.”

For his part, Bob Noble, Vice President, Partnering for Success, Supplier Management, Boeing Commercial Airplanes, said, “Through our joint venture Matis, Boeing has been an anchor of the growing Moroccan aerospace ecosystem since 2000″.

“We welcome Hexcel’s new facility, which will serve to further expand regional capabilities, increasing the value Morocco offers aerospace companies around the world”, he added.

Hexcel Corporation is a leading advanced composites company. It develops, manufactures and markets lightweight, high-performance structural materials, including carbon fibers, reinforcements, prepregs, honeycomb, matrix systems, adhesives and composite structures, used in commercial aerospace, space and defence and industrial applications such as wind turbine blades.