By Fabio Teixeira
(Reuters) -Brazilian motor maker WEG will invest $77 million in a U.S. specialty transformer manufacturing facility, it said on Tuesday, seeking to increase the plant’s production capacity by 50% as artificial intelligence fuels demand in the country.
The investment in the Washington, Missouri, plant targets the production of transformers seen as essential to supporting the expansion of industrial manufacturing, data centers and grid stability in the U.S., according to WEG.
“This factory used to and still does – to a certain extent – produce transformers for renewables, such as wind. But more and more this will be related to data centers and AI,” Peter Barry, WEG’s managing director in the U.S., told Reuters.
The investment will be deployed over three years, he said, with the additional capacity coming online and producing no later than 2028.
As the market develops, the firm could see new investments in U.S. facilities to meet rising demand, Barry said.
“But we have time to adapt and be agile to any changes that happen. Conditions can change, so we remain very flexible,” Barry said.
The firm expects to be able to pre-sell the capacity of the plant, the executive said, adding that even though the investments will be highly focused on automation, about 50 jobs will be created.
While WEG has been impacted by the 50% tariff imposed by President Donald Trump on U.S. imports of several Brazilian goods, Barry said they had no bearing on the decision to invest in the country.
“The North American growth for WEG over the last number of years has been very strong, and I would see that continuing,” said Barry.
(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Gabriel Araujo and Mark Porter)
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