The new 20-metre-tall experimental production laboratory will help AB “Astra LT” write another page in its history. The investment of approximately 6 million euro will enable the company to produce stainless steel storage tanks of an especially large dimensions. This will make the Alytus-based company even more competitive in the Baltic region, explains CEO Vaidas Liesonis.
According to the CEO, the manufacturer of stainless steel tanks and pressure vessels for the food, chemicals and oil industries has in recent years received customer inquiries about making large storage tanks, pressure vessels and mixing equipment.
In the past, for example, dairy companies might have ordered 50-cubic-metre storage tanks, but now it is not unusual for a milk processor to order storage tanks three or four times larger, with a volume of up to 150 or 200 cubic metres.
Noticing the evolving needs of customers, the company also saw an opportunity.
“Many manufacturers are not able to produce storage tanks with a diameter of 6 metres,” the CEO explains, speaking of a niche he noticed several years ago.
The new experimental production laboratory, in cooperation with the Lithuanian Energy Institute, as with a reliable Astra’s LT scientific partner in R&D activities, and will have the capability of development and production large-dimension storage tanks, ant reactors with or without integrated heat exchange and mixing equipment.
The CEO says, “This will be a big step forward.”
According to Liesonis, R&D is an especially important activity, because the company makes custom-made products and has to devise its own solutions.
The CEO gives an example. “A customer says, ‘I need a reactor tank, where I will mix three different components. Each of them has a different level of chemical aggressiveness. And we will pour these materials – acidic, alkaline – in such-and-such proportions, and in 53 minutes we will heat them from this temperature to that temperature. Can you design a heat exchanger that will heat up like this?’”
The ability to offer one-of-a-kind products is one of the company’s greatest advantages, which creates a lot of opportunities, says Liesonis.
The company receives most of its orders from customers in Baltic and Scandinavian countries. The company recently shipped goods valued at 4 million euro to Sweden, where it is meeting orders related to construction of a chemical factory applied for automotive equipment production.
Observing possible competitors in the region, Liesonis remarks that from now on, “Astra” will be especially competitive. His data indicates that there are no companies with equivalent capabilities in the neighbouring countries. The nearby competitors are only able to manufacture analogous products of smaller dimensions.
Testing a new product
Last year the company completed the process of creating, manufacturing and certifying a new product, a road tanker semi-trailer prototype for liquid food products.
The new road tanker boasts good insulation, and is made using Duplex stainless steel. At present, the road tanker prototype is being used by potential future customers to transport liquid food products, such as cream, oil and so on.
“The company is beginning production of the first three road tankers for commercial sale, and we expect to start serial production of the road tanker in the near future,” the CEO says.
More expensive metal has not impacted production
At present, the company has orders for the next 5–6 months.
A total of about 500 separate products are manufactured each year. Of these, 250 are for different designs.
Last year, the company’s turnover was 21.7 million euro. That was 10.6% more than the year before last, when turnover was 19.6 million euro.
Last year, the company earned a profit of 2.1 million euro, while its profit in 2020 was 2.377 million euro.
