BLRT opens €14 million foundry in Estonia as industrial production moves to Kohila

BLRT Grupp has opened a new €14 million industrial foundry in Kohila, around 35 kilometres south of Tallinn, expanding the group’s ability to produce larger and heavier cast components for Nordic industrial customers.

The factory was built by BLRT subsidiary BLRT Valukoda as the company replaces its ageing production facilities in Tallinn with a new plant in Rapla County. Earlier municipal information said the existing industrial building in Tallinn had become obsolete and that the Kohila site was planned for up to 70 jobs.

The new foundry can produce up to 3,000 tonnes of castings a year. Products will include cast-iron components for electric motors, forestry machinery and boilers. According to BLRT, demand for larger cast parts is particularly strong among customers and partners in Scandinavia.

The company received the factory’s operating permit immediately before the official opening and plans to start regular production on October 5. BLRT Valukoda said it was still looking for around ten additional employees at the time of opening.

The investment also broadens the range of products the company can manufacture. BLRT and Estonian officials have pointed to possible future orders from the defence industry, but no specific defence contract has been announced.

That distinction matters. For now, the economic story is primarily industrial rather than defence-related: a Baltic engineering group is replacing an older urban production site with a larger modern facility, increasing casting capacity and targeting heavier products for export markets.

The location is also part of the story. Kohila has been developing the Tuhamäe industrial area and related infrastructure, while BLRT’s investment brings a relatively capital-intensive manufacturing operation outside Tallinn.

For Estonia, the new factory adds physical production capacity at a time when much of the region’s investment discussion is focused on digital services, energy and defence technology. Here the investment is more traditional: machinery, metal, export manufacturing and a new industrial site.