Komatsu Ltd., on Dec. 14, announced a plan to build a new plant in Russia to meet growing demand for construction machinery. Komatsu said it would invest 6.9 billion yen (US$61 million) to build the new plant in Yaroslavl ocated 186 miles northeast of Moscow.
Komatsu plans to assemble 3,000 hydraulic excavators and 7,000 forklifts in 2011 at the new plant, which will be its first production base for midsized excavators and forklifts in Russia. Operation is scheduled to begin in June 2010 with 500 employees and an annual sales target from the operations of 50 billion yen in the initial fiscal year.
Komatsu forecasts that demand for forklift trucks in Russia will double to 33,000 in 2009 from 2006 levels, with sales of other construction equipment such as excavators and bulldozers also set to rise sharply. "Today, the Russian economy is booming, driven by buoyant exports of natural resources which are abundant there, and we anticipate it will continue to grow into the future," the firm said.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2007
