March 9, 2007

Italian tractor firm opens plant in Dalian, China

Italian company Same Deutz-Fahr (SDF) one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery, Thursday (Mar 8) opened a new EUR 45-million plant in China's north-eastern city of Dalian.

The new plant would manufacture up to 6,000 tractors per year for the Chinese and international markets. Its production capacity could be doubled to 14,000 units a year with additional investments.

The plant would create 500 jobs in five years and an additional 3,000 jobs in allied industries.

SDF said they chose Dalian as the site for the plant as the city offers a number of logistical advantages-- it is already an operational base for DEUTZ (Dalian) Engine Co Ltd, a joint venture manufacturing and selling diesel engines.

Over the next few years, China will become the world's most important tractor market, according to the China International Agricultural Machinery Industry Association. Profits from China's agricultural machinery industry has grown more than 50 percent year-on-year.

Based in Treviglio, in northern Italy, SDF is a leading manufacturers of tractors, combine harvesters, engines and agricultural machinery. In 2005, it achieved a turnover of EUR 936.5 million and a net profit of EUR 31.6 million.