Exel Composites, Keneco Group establish joint venture for pultruded composites solutions

A joint venture (JV) announced between Exel Composites (Vantaa, Finland) and The Kineco Group (Bardez, Goa, India) has led to the creation of a new company, Kineco Exel Composites India for composites design, engineering and production. The company and its manufacturing facility are based in Goa, India, and will be serving the Indian market with pultruded composites solutions for transportation, wind power, infrastructure, telecommunications, aerospace and defense markets.

The Kineco Group, also headquartered in Goa, was founded in 1995 and offers a range of advanced composite products and integrated systems. It is also well-known for its capabilities and quality, as well as its composites design know-how. Exel, founded in 1960 in Finland, is reported to be the world’s largest pultruder; the JV is the latest step in the company’s global growth strategy.

“Kineco has excellent brand recognition in India, and together with our pultrusion expertise we are starting from a very strong position,” says Olli Tevä, SVP sales and marketing at Exel Composites. “This joint venture provides immediate access into the Indian market which shows clear growth potential and demand. India has been a focus of ours for a while, and now with this ‘in India, with India, for India’ capability the team at Kineco Exel Composites India can begin to reach out to prospective customers in the joint venture’s focus market segments.”

According to Shekhar Sardessai, founder and managing director of Kineco Group and managing director of Kineco Exel Composites India, the new company will focus on developing pultruded composite solutions for customers across India. “Our manufacturing plant is already operational and will pultrude a variety of composite products,” Sardessai says. “This could be anything from bus panels for the transport sector, components for wind turbine blades or radomes for telecommunications, among others.”

This JV into India also continues Exel’s growth strategy to develop a true global footprint from which it can better serve its customers. In 2017, Exel acquired China’s Nanjing Jianhui Composite Material, and in 2018 continued the expansion with the acquisition of Diversified Structural Composites (Erlanger, Ky., U.S.) in the U.S.

“This strategic investment provides Exel with direct presence in the fast-growing Indian composites market,” adds Riku Kytömäki, president and CEO of Exel Composites. “Kineco Group’s long and established position in the Indian composites industry allows us to expand into India with a ‘flying start.’ The investment fits Exel’s strategy and growth initiatives well, and clearly strengthens our competitive position towards current and new customers. We are looking forward to joining forces with the committed local team and boosting our future presence in India.”