History.

Our mother company Shibata Industrial was founded in 1923 for the production of rubber boots. Within a short time, they have diversified into other rubber products and gained an extensive knowledge and expertise in rubber products since then. 

Based on the broad knowledge of rubber products and the demand for fenders with defined performances, Shibata developed and commenced production of their first rubber fenders. 

A team of true fender experts founded the company back in 2006. They were and still are dedicated to the industry, passionate about the product and had a proven track record in the sales of fenders. 

Just two years after the foundation of the company, the first regional office was opened in Paris, France. The French office took over the responsibility for all sales in France, North Africa and the French Territories.

The close partnership of Shibata Industrial and FenderTeam was strengthened with Shibata becoming a major shareholder in FenderTeam. 

Only 3 years after starting the company, the first overseas office was established. The office in the Washington, DC metro area allowed for local contact and support to clients in North and South America.

Following the strong growth of the company, FenderTeam went public to further strengthen the company's position in the global markets.

FM-Tec GmbH (now ShibataFenderTeam Produktion) is FenderTeam’s production facility for steel fabrication, corrosion protection and HD-PE Sliding Fender Extrusion, based in Rechlin, Germany. FM-Tec has been working together with FenderTeam for quite some time before they got part of the SFT Group as a 100% daughter company in 2013. 

In October 2014 FenderTeam and Marine Fender International (Wilmington, US) decided to establish a mutual production facility for Foam Fenders in Germany which resulted in the joint venture F4. With the new production, which is located at the premises of FenderTeam Produktion in Rechlin, Germany,  F4 serves the growing demand for Foam Fenders and Buoys. 

Both entities, FenderTeam and Shibata, decided to intensify their cooperation. They created a uniform global profile and thus strengthening their leading position in global markets with the new brand name ShibataFenderTeam.

In order to strengthen SFT's position in Asia and Oceania, the third office was founded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Most new colleagues have already been working for Shibata for many years. The office will serve SFT's clients and customers in Austral-Asia markets from now on. 

The 4th SFT office in Valencia provides close support to customers in Spain, North Africa and stakeholders in Spain working for Latin America. The new office will strengthen SFT's position in these markets and provide excellent customer support for the region. 

The fully owned daughter company merged into the legal entity of SFT AG. The merger was important to reduce the complexity within the SFT Group and to offer a higher flexibility for clients. Together with the long-standing colleagues and their valuable experience, the production plant will continue its strong performance. 

The success story of the SFT Group continues in 2019 and with effect of March 2019, SFT opens its 5th office which is based in The Netherlands, located close to Eindhoven. Four new colleagues with extensive experience in the fender industry take care of consulting, engineering and project management.