ystral projects, constructs and produces mixing, dispersing and powder wetting machines as well as process systems for the chemical, paints and varnishes, food, pharmaceutical, household and cosmetic industries, as well as for battery production. The company has three subsidiaries in Singapore (since 2011), India (since 2013) and China (since 2018). The order intake of 52.2 million euros achieved in the fiscal year 2022 is divided approximately equally between ystral's home market of Germany, the rest of Europe and North America, as well as the Asian countries. With the increase of 13%, ystral was able to build on the strong growth of the previous year. "Against the background of a geopolitically and economically difficult environment, we are very satisfied with the course of the past fiscal year," says Karl Prem, Managing Director Operation & Finance at ystral.
Cooperation with Fraunhofer FFB in the project Battery Cell Research Manufacturing
One of the most important developments for ystral in the past fiscal year was the start of cooperation with the Fraunhofer Research Institution for Battery Cell Production FFB in Münster / Germany. ystral supports the project Battery Cell Research Manufacturing (“Forschungsfertigung Batteriezelle”) with a mixing and dispersing system in the “FFB PreFab” (currently under construction), which is intended for testing manufacturing processes as well as new recipes for battery cell production. The start of the test operation on the ystral system is scheduled for the end of this year. "Estimates predict a growth in demand for storage batteries by a factor of 30 in the coming years," says Dominik Seeger, Director Strategic Sales at ystral. "In view of this, this cooperation represents a milestone in the development of our company.”
"Cautiously optimistic for 2023"
Compared to a sales forecast from last September, the machine and plant manufacturer has recently raised its forecast for the 2023 financial year to some degree. "Due to the still unclear economic and political framework conditions, the further business development is currently difficult for us to assess," says ystral Managing Director Prem. "However, signals from the market indicate that the supply chain situation could ease somewhat in the second half of the year. In addition, there are currently improved economic data as well as the end of the strict zero-covid policy in China. These developments make us cautiously optimistic for fiscal 2023."
