The SDF Group is closing its combine harvester plant in Zupanja, Croatia. Deutz-Fahr combine production will end on February 28 next year.
A decade ago, SDF had ambitious plans for combines when it acquired control of Croatian company Duro Dakovic. The plan was to increase production to 850 units a year by 2010 and 1,200 units by 2010 to give it a 10% share of the global market.
With just 228 machines made in 2022, the decision to close the facility is blamed on the drop in orders to one of the main markets of Ukraine. SDF is said to have unsuccessfully tried to sell the plant to numerous potential buyers, including Chinese and Turkish manufacturers.
Factory management and board members resigned earlier, and the company is with the receiver. Around 190 people work in the factory. The first employees have already been sent home with severance pay.
Some staff can return to Duro Dakovic to build military vehicles and train wagons. This is the same company that founded the Zupanja plant, initially to build agricultural machinery.
The Croatian manufacturer built the first Deutz-Fahr combines under licence in 1982, and the first batch of 56 series machines were produced when SDF took control of the plant in 2005. Other Deutz-Fahr combine ranges built at Zupanja include the C9000, C7000 and C6000, which were launched in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively.
The Croatian plant is the only SDF facility producing combine harvesters. SDF has yet to comment, but it would appear that the Italian company is pulling out of the combine harvester business. Source: Forbes Croatia
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