Trelleborg is further strengthening its presence in China and opened yesterday its fifth wholly-owned production plant in the country. The plant will manufacture products for infrastructure projects including fender systems for harbors and dredging hoses.

The plant belongs to the Trelleborg Engineered Systems business area, is located in Qingdao on the east coast of China and will initially have approximately 100 employees.

“For many years, we have followed a long-term growth strategy, which implies that we invest particularly in markets with favorable growth, where China is clearly one of the leading and most important markets,” says Trelleborg’s President and CEO, Peter Nilsson. “During recent years, we have grown from one to five wholly-owned production plants in the country and further investments to increase presence are in the pipeline.”

“We foresee a long-term, favorable trend in global demand for infrastructure products and accordingly it was natural to invest in this efficient and modern production plant, which will additionally strengthen our innovation rate within these solutions,” says Lennart Johansson, Business Area Manager for Trelleborg Engineered Systems. “We have received a positive response from customers about our investment and have already received orders that are in production at the plant.”

“The decision to locate the plant in Qingdao was key. It is one of the main hubs for rubber manufacturing in China, which facilitates recruitment and means that we are close to the delivery chain. The city also has excellent infrastructure with a large international harbor and a well-served airport.”