Chinese Joint Venture to Build New Production Facilities for Cement Plant Components

Tokyo, May 30, 2011 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. today announced its plan to build new production facilities for cement plant components at Anhui Conch Kawasaki Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (CKE). CKE is a joint venture between Kawasaki and Anhui Conch Cement Co., Ltd., China’s biggest and the world's third largest cement maker.

The new facilities will be designed for in-house production of cast parts and other consumables as well as main cement plant components, which Anhui Conch Cement currently procures from external suppliers. Two cast shops (with a combined floor area of 65,000 m²) and a plate working facility (with a floor area of 19,000 m²) will be constructed on the premises of the company’s existing factory in Wuhu City, Anhui Province. The cast shops will be used for mainly producing crushing machine hammers, air quenching coolers (AQCs), grates and tube liners while the plate working facility will produce roller presses, AQCs, kilns, tube mills, etc. The total investment is estimated to amount to approximately 7.4 billion yen in property, buildings and production equipment for the three facilities.

China produces 1.8 billion tons of cement annually, which is more than half of the world’s total (3.3 billion tons). The outlook for the future of China’s cement industry is bright with growing domestic demand fueling production volume. It’s against this backdrop that the Chinese cement industry is building large-scale, state-of-the-art facilities to replace its older, small-scale facilities lacking in production efficiency. This development is expected to generate increased demand for cement plant components along with casts and other consumable parts. Kawasaki is leveraging CKE’s in-house cement plant component manufacturing capability with an eye to gaining a leg up in the market with products that are superior in every way. Expanding its joint venture operations and revenue base, Kawasaki is moving on track to become the world’s leading comprehensive cement plant supplier.

Kawasaki and Anhui Conch Cement are working together to make the most of their competitive edge as they supply products that will help China save energy while protecting the natural environment.

Overview of Anhui Conch Kawasaki Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd.