Home to many of the world’s largest aerospace and defence companies, the United States is the next port of call for welding and robotics company K-TIG (ASX: KTG), which has confirmed their entry through the appointment of their first North American distributor.

Under a non-exclusive distribution agreement, Key Plant Automation will commence offering a range of K-TIG products and services through their network which serves more than 45 countries across a range of pressure vessel, aerospace, defence and oil and gas sectors.

“The agreement with Key Plant helps to build K-TIG’s on the ground sales force as well as our US based spare parts and technical support capability,” said K-TIG Managing Director, Adrian Smith.

“K-TIG’s technology complements Key Plant’s offering to create a turn-key solution for customers. With a demonstration centre located within the United States, we will be able to physically demonstrate the value of our technology to new customers.”

As part of the agreement, a demonstration facility showcasing K-TIG’s capabilities will be built at Key Plant’s head office in Houston, Texas which K-TIG will use as their gateway to acquiring more North American customers where Smith “sees enormous potential for growth in the US market, and our partnership with Key Plant is a way of fast tracking our expansion into the world’s largest economy.”

Using K-TIG’s welding and automation technology, manufacturers are able to weld up to 100 times faster than traditional TIG welding. Much of the tech offered was developed by the CSIRO with K-TIG owning all rights where they apply the technology across a range of corrosion-resistant materials.

In a trading update issued by the Company on 16 December 2020, K-TIG is expecting to report sales revenue around $400k for the December Quarter, a notable increase on the $36k reported in the September Quarter.

Since listing on the ASX in October 2019 with an IPO Offer Price of $0.20, KTG shares have been minimally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic to be now trading around $0.32.