18. Property, plant and equipment

The Group’s property, plant and equipment mainly include:

The yearly increase in property, plant and equipment amounts to EUR 294,527 thousand, of which 90% to support the Group growth strategy.

Increase in Land and buildings principally concerns the expansion of the industrial facilities mainly in the Mexican production plant.

The overall increases in Plant and machinery, considering both the yearly additions and the reclassification from assets under construction, amount to EUR 73,316 thousand and mainly refer to the purchase of new production equipment necessary to guarantee a high product quality standard and a high production capacity, characteristics necessary to consolidate the company's position in the biopharmaceutical market.

Assets under construction, amounted to EUR 298,527 thousand at December 31, 2022 and EUR 89,946 thousand at December 31, 2021, includes investments in production lines and machines for syringes, vials and cartridges production which have not yet been completed but are expected to enter into use in the coming years. This category also includes the investment for the new EZ-fill® plant in Latina, the investment for the new EZ-fill® hub in China, a new building in Piombino Dese, that will host both corporate offices and production areas, and the investments for the construction of the new U.S. facility in Fishers, Indiana. This latter is expected to begin validation activities in the fourth quarter of 2023 with revenue generation beginning in 2024. The U.S. hub enables Stevanato Group to be in closer proximity to its North America pharmaceutical customers and to provide an additional supply source for its mission critical products to serve customers better. The plant, which is expected to be up to 565,000 square feet, will support the expansion and production of Stevanato Group’s EZ-Fill® solutions for bio-pharmaceutical use. The decision to follow a modular approach allows the Group to be flexible in modifying or changing the capacity to meet market demand. The facility will house production lines to produce EZ-Fill® syringes and vials. In line with customer demand and as a result of the increased production capacity, the Group expect to better support customers’ needs for biologics and vaccine treatments. As part of this capital project, in February 2022, Stevanato Group entered into an agreement with the U.S. government’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense. Under the agreement, BARDA will make a multi-year contribution for up to approximately USD 95 million (or approximately EUR 85 million) for manufacturing capacity for standard and EZ-Fill® vials in support of U.S. national defense readiness and preparedness programs for current and future public health emergencies.

As at December 31, 2022 committed orders related to the ongoing investments equaled approximately EUR 270 million, net of the expected contribution from BARDA.

At the year end, no impairment indicators have been identified and furthermore no need to reassess useful life of property, plants and equipment.