US group takes over Estonian rare earths processor

Molycorp takes over Silmet Group

TALLINN — US group Molycorp has bought out Estonia’s Silmet, one of only two rare earth processors in Europe, the latter’s director told AFP Monday, amid concerns over China’s stranglehold on the crucial metals.

David O’Brock said that Colorado-based Molycorp paid around $89 million for a 90-percent stake, the bulk bought from parent company Silmet Grupp which will retain almost 10 percent.

Rare earths such as lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium or neodymium are vital components in hard-drives and computer screens, while the metals are also pivotal in making laser missile systems, hybrid engines, wind turbines and solar panels.

China produces more than 95 percent of the world’s rare earths, and in recent years has cut back exports radically, resulting in rocketing prices.

That has caused a spat with the United States, which in December called on China not to use rare earths as a “trade weapon” after Japanese industry said Beijing temporarily froze exports amid a territorial row.

China denied any political motivations, insisting the export restrictions were due to environmental concerns and the need for a more sustainable approach.

This year Beijing has also tightened its grip by setting new emission limits on mines producing the lucrative metals.

Silmet, which employs 550 people, is located in the northeastern Estonian town of Sillamae.

“The global demand for our production has been huge but we have been working below capacity, the bottleneck has been the mine,” O’Brock said.

“The deal with Molycorp will secure Silmet with raw material. Molycorp has its own mine in California, so we do not need to worry about delivery problems of raw materials any more,” he added.

Silmet currently imports ores for processing from Russia.

It produces 3,000 metric tonnes of rare earths per year, or roughly two percent of annual global supplies.

The facility started out as a top secret site processing uranium when Estonia was ruled by the Soviet Union, before shifting to the rare earth sector after the Baltic state won independence in 1991.

Europe’s only other rare earth processor is France-based Rhodia.

On Monday Belgian chemicals and plastics group Solvay announced it is making a friendly takeover of its rival Rhodia worth 3.4 billion euros ($4.8 billion).

Source © 2011 AFP

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Estonia ranks 17th in ease of doing business index, ahead of Japan

Estonia has ranked 17th out of 183 countries in the Doing Business 2011 report released this week, retaining the same position it held in last year’s list.  The rankings, which are part of a project by the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, take into account areas such as the ease of registering a business, paying taxes and obtaining credit.Singapore topped the list, followed by Hong Kong and New Zealand. The UK and US came in 4th and 5th place respectively.

Estonia’s 17th place ranking puts it just ahead of Japan, and one place behind South Korea.

The 2011 report was based on data from the June 2009 to May 2010 period.

Read also Macro Monitor from Danske Bank about Estonia and the amazing return of GDP to 6%!

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of new sales leads for you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Estonia’s taxation system attracts fast-growing companies

“Estonia has the best laws, very good banks, cheap bookkeeping services and less bureaucracy than, for instance, in Germany or Lithuania. But the most important thing is that Estonia does not tax profits,” says Nerijus Strumila, board member of Lithuanian-owned Euroalliance that is registered in Estonia.

The Lithuanian family-owned business that is registered in Estonia sells scrap metal and trades goods abroad, mostly operating in Germany, US, Lithuania and elsewhere in the EU. It is also a textbook example of foreign businessmen whose markets are outside Estonia, but who decide to incorporate the company in Estonia for tax reasons, writes Äripäev.

Euroalliance was founded in 2005 and is 100% owned by Antaninan Strumiliene, mother of Nerijus Strumila. The company made a profit of 70 million kroons at sales of 160 million kroons in 2008 putting its owner on 218th place in the Äripäev list of Estonia’s richest businessmen.

Another company that is incorporated in Estonia, but operates in 23 countries abroad, mainly in Poland, is oil trading firm E100 Baltia. “Estonia has created a very good legal framework for companies and has a good business environment,” says the company’s owner, Belarus businessman Denis Bokhan, who is Estonia’s 77th richest businessman.

E100 Baltia is Estonia’s fastest-growing company. It was founded in 2005 and in 2009 increased its revenues from 250 million kroons to 957 million kroons. 2009 profit was 63 million kroons.

Tax expert Lasse Lehis says that one of the main reasons why foreign businessmen like to set up companies in Estonia is that such companies do not have to pay income tax on profits unless the profit is paid out as dividends.

“Estonia is definitely not a tax haven,” emphasises Lehis, adding that the information in the Estonian commercial register is public and foreign tax authorities can obtain information from the Estonian tax service to check whether the operations of their businessmen are legal. “Such transition of companies into Estonia is also helping Estonia to collect state duties and is boosting sales of providers of accounting services, for instance,” he added.

There are also plenty of critics. One of them is Viktor Trasberg, lecturer of economics of the Tartu University. “In the last decade, the Estonian state has failed to collect about 50 billion kroons in income tax,” says Trasberg.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of new sales leads for you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Estonian Air Orders Three CRJ900 NextGens and Options Two

Estonian Air of Tallinn, Estonia has signed a firm order for three CRJ900 NextGen aircraft and has also taken options on two CRJ900 NextGens.

Based on the list price for the CRJ900 NextGen, Bombardier values the contract at approximately US$123 million, which could increase to $211 million should both options be converted to firm orders.

Estonian Air’s firm order replaces a firm order for three CRJ900 NextGens that was announced on March 10, 2008 as part of a purchase by SAS Scandinavian Airlines and three of its affiliate airlines. SAS reduced its stake in Estonian Air from 49 per cent to 10 per cent on May 10 when the Estonian government invested €21 million in the airline and the Estonian government has the right to buy SAS’ remaining 10 per cent shareholding by 2014.

“We require aircraft with less capacity than our mainline jets,” says Andrus Aljas, president and chief executive officer of Estonian Air. “The CRJ900 NextGen aircraft, which offer an excellent combination of performance, operating economics and passenger comfort, are ideally suited for our requirements and will be deployed as part of our fleet optimization program.”

“Estonian Air’s CRJ900 NextGen aircraft will join the 530 CRJ Series and Q-Series aircraft that are in service with, or have been ordered by, operators in Europe,” says Gary Scott, president of Bombardier Commercial Aircraft. “These aircraft are an important component in the continent’s airline network as carriers seek to reduce their environmental footprint while sustaining or improving yields.”

Including the order from Estonian Air, Bombardier has recorded firm orders for a total of 1,709 CRJ-series aircraft, including 262 CRJ900s and CRJ900 NextGens. As of July 31, 2010, 1,597 CRJ-series aircraft (including 234 CRJ900s and CRJ900 NextGens) had been delivered to customers around the world.

CRJ-series aircraft are in service with more than 60 airlines and have logged more than 28 million flight hours and over 23 million take-off and landing cycles. In addition, corporate variants of CRJ-series aircraft are in service with more than 30 operators.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of new sales leads for you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Technopolis Ülemiste Takes Over 10% of Tallinn Office Space

In what is one of the largest real-estate transactions in Tallinn’s history, the newly-formed joint stock company Technopolis Ülemiste has acquired a 64-million-euro slice of Ülemiste City, a so-called “smart business city” being developed near Tallinn Airport.

Technopolis Ülemiste Ltd came into existence Thursday as the result of an agreement between Finnish business center developer Technopolis Plc and Ülemiste City Ltd, the area’s overall developer. Technopolis Plc owns 51 percent of the new company, with the remaining 49 percent owned by Estonian developer Mainor.

The deal makes the new company the owner of 10 percent of the capital’s office space, an area currently accommodating 3,300 workers, a company press release said.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of valuable sales leads to you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Sweden Catching up to Finland as Estonia’s Main Trade Partner

New figures from Statistics Estonia show that the nation’s exports grew by 37 percent, and imports by 34 percent, from August 2009 to August 2010, with Sweden being by far the fastest growing trade partner.

Over the year, exports to Sweden rose by 67 percent while imports from Sweden jumped 105 percent.

Though Finland was still the top destination for Estonia’s exports in August, taking 17 percent of the total 713 million euro volume for the month, Sweden was a close second at 16 percent. The main exports to Sweden were electrical equipment, wood and wood products, and furniture.

Similarly, Finland tops the list for imports, with 16 percent of goods originating there. Imports from Sweden and Germany each made up 12 percent of the 781 million euro total in August, but over the year Sweden’s growth as an import supplier far outstripped those of the other two countries. Electrical equipment, vehicles and vehicle parts made up the bulk of products imported from Sweden.

In overall terms, Estonia’s biggest export commodities in August were machinery and equipment (23 percent), mineral products (13 percent) and agricultural products and food preparations (10 percent). The same categories also dominated the import side, with machinery and equipment again on top (24 percent), followed by mineral products (18 percent) and agricultural products and food preparations (12 percent).

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of valuable sales leads to you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Estonian beverage maker puts its export hopes on cider

Estonian beverages maker A. Le Coq increased its export by 44% in the first nine months of the year and is planning to increase export by nearly a half next year by means of cider export. The company had this year exported beer and cider for 89 million kroons.

CEO Tarmo Noop said that the company has exported to about twenty European countries as well as to Africa. “We started to pay more attention to export only a year ago. In a certain sense this was thanks to the economic recession, because fall of consumption on the domestic market made us look for additional opportunities abroad,” he added.

At present A. Le Coq’s beverages are marketed the most in Lithuania, followed by Denmark and Finland. According to Noop, the target this and the next year is to firmly gain ground in Scandinavia, Great Britain and Germany and to increase export by a hundred million kroons every year.

“To sell beverages for 200 to 300 million kroons to foreign markets is a realistic target,” Noop said. He added that abroad there was much more room for cider than for beer.
He also pointed out that although the company had started to sell more beverages for export, Estonian buyers continued to be the majority.

A. Le. Coq, which belongs to the Finnish company Olvi OYJ, produces 120 million liters of beverages a year. Export accounts for about one tenth of the company’s annual turnover of one billion kroons.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of valuable sales leads to you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Finns invest 10 mln euros in new factory in Tallinn

Finnish Ensto opened a new factory in Tallinn today at a cost of 10 million euros. The new plant will double the company’s production volume of thermoplastic enclosures for electrical switchgear.

Ensto is one of the largest manufacturers of mass-customized and tailor-made enclosing solutions used e.g. in renewable energy industries.

According to Timo Luukkainen, President and CEO of Ensto, there are ca 6,000 different products made in the factories in Estonia, located in Keila and now also in Tallinn. “The new factory produces mass-customized enclosures with high quality. The demand for these products is increasing drastically and our strong growth is expected to continue“, describes Timo Luukkainen the capacity of the new factory.

The factory exports 99.5% of its production outside of Estonia, mainly to Central Europe and to such countries as Japan, USA, China, Taiwan, Australia and New Zealand. The factory currently employs 130 people; 50 of these jobs were created this year.

The factory is located in the Tallinn Industrial Park. The total area of the premises in the factory is 9,800 m2.

Ensto was founded in 1958. It employs 1,300 people and operates in 19 countries. Its turnover last year was 200 million euros.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of valuable sales leads to you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

BaltCap invests 1.4 million euros in Primekss

BaltCap, a private Baltic equity and venture capital investor, is investing 1.4 mln euros in Primekss, a concrete floors contractor, and will obtain a significant minority stake.

Primekss that was founded in 1997 has developed and patented unique technology for casting slender, tough, jointless concrete floors for heavy use such as automated warehouses and other commercial and industrial premises.

“We are proud and very excited about being able to support the superb team of Primekss in their ambitious growth plans. This is a unique opportunity for our fund to back a truly innovations-driven and environmentally conscious company with great growth potential in international markets,” said Mārtiņš Jaunarājs from BaltCap.

“The interest in PrimeComposite from local and global customers has been considerable, yet our growth has been hampered by lack of funding. This investment will lay a sound foundation for rapid expansion. We are especially happy to have the experienced and professional team at BaltCap as partners in this global greentech venture”, said Jānis Ošlejs, CEO of Primekss.

BaltCap is an independent private equity firm in the Baltic States. Since 1995, BaltCap has been managing several private equity and venture capital funds with total capital of over 190 million euros and has made 39 investments out of which 24 have been fully exited.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of valuable sales leads to you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!

Danish-owned Säästke grows on exports

Thanks to exporting almost all of its output, Danish-owned window and door maker OÜ Säästke (“save” or “spare” in Estonian) increased its profits by 33% in 2009 compared to 2008, reports news2biz.

The company’s production facility is situated in the village of Jõesuu in Tori municipality east of Pärnu. The company manufactures wooden windows and doors mainly for exports.

CEO Sven Halfdan Nielsen who speaks perfect Estonian wrote in the company’s annual report that the conditions for production in Estonia are good. “Production price is cheaper than in Denmark or Norway. This fact has been the reason for the company’s growth so far. The crisis in Estonia meant that wages and raw material process remained at the same level as earlier, and partly even became cheaper. Due to the increasing unemployment in Estonia, it was possible to find better workforce,” said the report.

he company started up in 2001 with 29 employees and by the end of 2009, it had 117. The company premises have been expanded so that they cover 5,000 sq.m.

Still, even though conditions on the labour market have improved for employers like Säästke, the company is still bussing in people on company minivans and Säästke has renovated apartments for workers to stay in during working weeks.

The processing equipment is rather old, it is semi-automatic and it was installed as used equipment in Estonia. The average age is 15 years. Mr Nielsen wants to renew the equipment and plans to double production volumes.

Säästke is owned by the Danish company Commerz ApS which shares the address with a Danish distributor of wooden doors, JNA Vinduer, controlled by Ebbe Nymann Andersen. Ebbe Nymann Andersen is also a member of the board in Säästke. In addition to Denmark, Säästke’s windows are also distributed in Norway. JNA was founded in 1975 and has a staff of 160.

Sven Halfdan Nielsen has lived in Estonia since the early nineties and he, who is trained as an architect, used to work for the Pärnu town government. According to sources among Danish expats, he is one of the only Danish citizens ever to have applied for an Estonian citizenship.

Want to sell more? Visit Estonian EXPO Center in Tallinn Airport at Gate 3, it’s the world’s first permanent trade fair in an airport. You can show your products to 1.8 Mill. passengers per year  for as little as One Euro per hour! We offer business to business and B2C. The One Euro per hour includes: set up, live hostesses, distribution of leaflets and samples, collection of valuable sales leads to you, electricity and cleaning. Estonian Expo Center is open 15 hours a day 7 days a week. There is no cheaper or better way to brand your company and products in the Baltics…. read more about why it works!