ALMACO chooses Quebec for its expansion

The revival of shipbuilding continues in the region with the arrival in Quebec of a world leader who will soon set up its first subsidiary in Canada.

Groupe ALMACO, which specializes in complete turnkey solutions for shipbuilding, has chosen Quebec City to expand its activities.

As a supplier, ALMACO builds and modernizes all the interior spaces of ships such as cabins, superstructures, public spaces or galleys, both for passengers and sailors.

In particular, the company offers comprehensive support to shipyards.

For the moment, the work was mainly concentrated in Europe, but the situation may change a little with the recent investments of the Canadian government.

“The choice of Quebec is quite simple. We have past experience with Davie and Canadian shipyards will be busy for the next ten or twenty years if we look at the number of ships to be built,” said Joseph Kerebel, Business Development Manager for the ALMACO Canada Group.

A daunting challenge

However, the leader is well aware of the serious labor shortage affecting the entire territory of Quebec.

Employment fell in Quebec in April, but the unemployment rate also fell slightly to 3.9%, according to Statistics Canada.

The unemployment rate in Quebec fell from 4.1% in March to 3.9% in April, which is the lowest rate ever recorded in the province.

This figure is even lower in the Quebec region, but the company does not seem unduly worried.

“We have no difficulty finding specialized workers. They exist even if they are not in sufficient number. This is clearly a challenge that we will have to tackle in the next two years,” added Mr. Kerebel.

Important projects

Founded in 1998, ALMACO has carried out more than 300 projects in more than 40 sites.

The group has offices in Brazil, China, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Singapore and the United States.

By settling in Canada, ALMACO wishes to bring its know-how to the region and to the country, while strengthening its existing partnerships.

“Canada represents one of the most promising markets for shipbuilding,” also declared Vilhelm Roberts, Executive Chairman and Principal Shareholder of the ALMACO Group.

In 2020, Quebec obtained a total of more than $793 million in contracts under Canada’s National Shipbuilding Strategy (SNCN).

The long-term project aims to renew the federal fleet of combat and non-combat vessels.

The establishment in Quebec of its Canadian subsidiary will finally allow ALMACO to call on local professionals, suppliers and subcontractors.

“We will be here for a long time,” hopes Mr. Kerebel.

ALMACO Group

• The objective is to obtain 5 to 10 contracts for his Quebec team.
• These contracts could be worth between $50 million and $100 million each.
• The company wants to employ 100 to 300 local workers for each of the contracts.
• In Lévis, Chantier Davie is one of the sites that could call on the services of ALMACO.