Tubing manufacturer to open first Latin American facility in Costa Rica

Natvar, a global supplier of tubing for medical device manufacturers, will open its first Latin American production plant in Costa Rica in August.

The 1,000-square-meter facilities located in the province of Cartago at Z Free Zone required an investment of $4 million, and will create 100 new jobs in its initial stage of operation over the next 12 months, the Costa Rican Investment Promotion Agency (CINDE) reported in a press release.

The Costa Rican plant will be the company’s fifth, as Natvat also has production plants in the United States, Asia and Europe.

Natvar Costa Rica will manufacture tubing used in devices ranging from chemotherapy treatments and wound care to complex cardiovascular procedures.

The company began considering Costa Rica as an expansion location two years ago and decided to build the plant in late 2012.

“Everybody we deal with in the U.S. is in Costa Rica,” said Bob Donahue, general manager of global medical operations at Natvar. “Boston Scientific, St. Jude, … more than 25 medical tech companies in the last couple years have come here. Costa Rica has been the new hot spot since 2010.”

Medical devices accounted for 3 percent of gross domestic product and represented 18 percent of total exports in 2012, according to CINDE.

There are currently 51 companies operating in the Life Sciences sector in Costa Rica, and the country is now the second biggest exporter of medical supplies in Latin America, behind Mexico.