SKF is increasing its presence in China with a new factory in Dalian and new production channels in Shanghai, in response to the demand from the domestic Chinese market and as a way to support its markets outside China.

“During the past years we have been growing with double-digit figures in China,” says Tom Johnstone, president and CEO of SKF. “To be able to continue to grow with good speed and also to improve our market position in China, we need to strengthen our manufacturing capacity in the country. Long-term we also see China as an excellent base for exporting both components and products to the rest of the world.”

To that end, a new, wholly owned subsidiary, SKF (Dalian) Bearings and Precision Technologies Co Ltd, will build a completely new factory in the Dalian Economic & Technological Development Area in northeastern China. In this new factory SKF will manufacture various types of large-size bearings and will also undertake refurbishment.

At the same time SKF has announced plans for an increase of the production capacity in two joint ventures in Shanghai. One is in the automotive industry, where SKF holds 70 percent, with one new production channel for hub bearing units. The other one is in the electrical industry, where SKF holds 60 percent, with two new production channels for deep groove ball bearings. SKF’s total investment for these three projects amounts to some 50 million euros.