BIZCHINA / Overseas Investment
SKF aims to expand after acquisitions
By Li Jian (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-09-13 08:47
SHANGHAI: SKF Group, the world's biggest bearing and seal maker, is
aiming to expand in China after completing a series of international
acquisitions over the past six months.
The Swedish company yesterday announced it would add three manufacturing
plants in China by the end of the year and will enter the truck market by
the end of 2007.
SKF is planning to localize all of its manufacturing products delivered
to the Chinese market by the end of 2008, said the company. So far,
around half of the SKF bearing and seal products sold in China are
imports.
The announcement came as foreign investors line up to crack China's
bearing manufacturing industry through acquisitions or expansion.
As part of the strategy, SKF's new plant manufacturing large-size
bearings in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, and another
plant specializing in electromechanical actuators and actuation systems
in Pindu, East China's Zhejiang Province, have already gone into
operation, said the company yesterday.
SKF also plans a new factory in Shanghai manufacturing automotive bearing
products with 12 production channels by the end of the year.
"SKF will continue its strong investment to increase our manufacturing
capacity for products used in the automotive, medical, food and wind
energy industries in the coming few years," Tom Johnstone, president and
CEO of SKF Group, told China Daily yesterday.
SKF's China sales reached 2.8 billion yuan last year, up by 28 per cent
from 2004, making China the fourth-largest market for SKF.
SKF Group, a major bearing supplier to the Chinese railway market,
recently signed an agreement worth up to SEK1 billion (US$136 million)
with China's Ministry of Railways, according to sources close to the
company.
"SKF plans to enter the Chinese truck trailer market by the end of the
year 2007," said Johnstone. "And the wind energy industry is also a
future focus in China."
He said further plans include expanding the SKF dealer and distributor
network and transferring more new technology and solutions to China.
Besides SKF, other world leading bearing makers including the
Germany-based Schaeffler Group and US-based Timken are also increasing
their manufacturing capability in China.
Timken Company, the world's third-largest bearing manufacturer, said last
week it would build its fifith factory in China in Wuxi, Jiangsu
Province, while Shaeffler is working aggressively to acquire domestic
bearing makers.
(China Daily 09/13/2006 page10)
(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)
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