Kawasaki Opens New Hydraulic Equipment Plant in China

Tokyo, November 1, 2011 — Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd. announced today that Kawasaki Precision Machinery (Suzhou) Ltd., its manufacturing base for hydraulic equipment in China, completed construction of a new plant for manufacturing hydraulic equipment for construction machinery and that the plant is now up and running.

Kawasaki established the solely-funded subsidiary in China in December 2005 with an eye to boosting its hydraulic equipment business in the country. The subsidiary supplies hydraulic equipment to Chinese hydraulic excavator manufacturers as well as global manufacturers operating in China. The latest expansion is aimed at meeting the greatly increasing demand in the Chinese market for hydraulic pumps and motors for construction machinery from customers.

The new plant, located approximately 200 meters east to the previous manufacturing site, has 13,500 m² of floor space on a plot of land covering an area of 41,500 m². In the new plant, hydraulic equipment will be assembled using core parts supplied by Kawasaki's Nishi-Kobe Works. With production lines relocated from the old plant as well as new equipment introduced to boost production capacity, the new plant will produce 110,000 units a year, which is roughly double the current production capacity.

Spurred by the soaring demand for infrastructure, Chinese construction machinery manufacturers are boosting production, especially of hydraulic excavators. This general trend is pushing up demand for hydraulic equipment for construction machinery, though there are short-term fluctuations. China is now the world's largest market for hydraulic excavators, and continued growth over the medium- to long-term will be further cultivated by ongoing infrastructure improvements in irrigation, gas, electricity and transportation networks focused on China’s underdeveloped northeastern and inland regions.

Kawasaki will continue to provide high-quality, high-performance products to rapidly expanding and globalizing hydraulic equipment markets. Kawasaki is also committed to offering full after-sales services to ensure customer satisfaction on all levels.

Overview of the New Plant

Address: 668 JianLin Rd, New District, Suzhou, 215151 China

Products: hydraulic pump motors

Production capacity: 9,000 units/month

Total floor area: approx. 13,500 m²

Number of employees: approx. 160 (as of November 1, 2011)