Italian firm De'Longhi will start production in Romania next month, according to to Cluj County Council. The domestic appliances producer bought the former Nokia plant in the Jucu industrial park, Cluj county, in a deal agreed in January 2012. The appliances producer was supposed to start production in autumn last year, according to previous reports.

Cluj Council officials met the deputy general manager of De'Longhi Romania today (January 29 ), to discuss how the investment at the plant was going. Estimates put De'Longhi's investment in the Jucu plant at around EUR 30 million and between 600 and 1,000 employees are expected to work at the site.

Romanian business news service Ziarul Financiar quotes the president of Cluj Council as saying that testing has been carried out already at the plant and that production should start in mid-February. The local council president also explained that the would be two phases of development at the plant, during the first, parts De'Longhi will import parts from Italy and assemble them in Jucu. Later, parts will also be manufactured at the Jucu site, after a new production unit has been built.

Italian firm De'Longhi had global revenues of over EUR 1.8 billion and a net profit of EUR 90.2 million in 2011, the most recent full year figures available. The company produces a range of kitchen and domestic appliances, including coffee making machines, microwaves and cookers, food processors and other kitchen gadgets, as well as irons, cleaning equipment, air conditioning units and heaters.

Liam Lever, liam@romania-insider.com

(photo source: the company)