TOKYO—Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. said it will boost capacity for high-pressure hydraulic hose at its subsidiary plant in China.
Its Yokohama Industrial Products-Hangzhou Co. Ltd. business will invest nearly $12 million in the project in China's Zhejiang Province. Production for spiral wire hoses, mainly used in construction machinery, will be expanded in stages, with capacity nearly tripling by September 2022, according to a statement from Tokyo-based Yokohama.
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The firm said demand in China for construction machinery such as hydraulic excavators and construction cranes dropped sharply in 2020 because of the global pandemic, but has bounced back in recent months. Sales boosts have come in both the OEM and replacement markets, leading to the expansion project in China.
Yokohama said under its medium-term management plan that will guide it from 2021-23, the Multiple Business segment will focus on its hose and couplings, and industrial product units, the two strongest in the unit.
The Chinese subsidiary was established in 2015, and makes and sells high pressure hydraulic hose and fittings; assembles high pressure hydraulic hose and other hoses for automobiles; and produces adhesives for autos. The adhesives business, though, is scheduled to be transferred in November to Sika (China) Ltd.
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