China’s Huawei to invest $800 million in new Brazil factory

SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Huawei Technologies Co Ltd plans to build an $800 million plant in Brazil’s Sao Paulo state over the next three years, the governor said, as the Chinese tech giant ramps up its Latin American presence against U.S. objections.

On a trip to China on Friday, Sao Paulo Governor João Doria, accompanied by Huawei executives, said the company was gearing up to build the plant to meet expected demand following Brazil’s first 5G spectrum auction, scheduled for March 2020.

The new factory is likely to produce smartphones, the company told Reuters in an email. “Depending on the performance of the smartphone operation in the local market, Huawei will consider building a plant in Sao Paulo in the near future,” it said in a statement.

Production would be for domestic and foreign markets, according to the Sao Paulo government.

Huawei, which has been operating in Brazil for 21 years, already has one factory producing equipment for telecoms infrastructure in Sao Paulo state, with 2,000 employees.

The location of the new plant, which according to Doria will employ 1,000 people, will be decided in the coming months and the $800 million will be invested over a three-year period following the upcoming 5G auction.