Amitech Brazil (Ipeúna, Brazil) has completed the expansion of its fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) pipe plant in Ipeúna in the São Paulo state. Capacity will increase to 330 km/205 miles of pipe per year with diameters of up to 3000 mm/118 inches. Most of the $9 million (USD) expansion was invested in a Flowtite filament winding machine developed by Amiantit, a Saudi company that controls 30 percent of Amitech. Before completion of the plant expansion, Amitech exclusively used centrifugal molding technology that enabled the company to produce an average of 18m/59 ft per hour of FRP pipe — a per-year production capacity of 120 km/74.5 miles of pipe, with diameters ranging between 400 mm to a maximum of 1200 mm (about 16 inches to 47 inches).

Pipe from the plant is used primarily in small hydroelectric plant applications to transport water from reservoirs to the machine room, where energy is produced by the force of water on turbines. The ability to produce larger pipe sizes will be highly beneficial: The bigger the diameter of the pipe, the greater the water output and turbine-turning force. Other applications include sanitation and irrigation projects.