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[April 2009]
Shengkai Breaks Ground On New Ceramic Valves Manufacturing Facility
Shengkai Innovations Inc (Tianjin, China), a leading industrial ceramic valve supplier in China, began construction of a new ceramic valves manufacturing facility in mid-March. When the new facility is operational, the company will reach an annual production capacity of 24,000 sets of ceramic valves, up from the current production of 10,000 sets. The company's management expects the new facility to be operational by the end of calendar year 2009 and to reach full utilisation in June 2010.
The construction involves approximately 43,000 square metres, or 10.6 acres, of land located in Bin Hai New Area of Tianjin, about 20km from the company's existing manufacturing facility. The new facility is expected to include a ceramics manufacturing facility, a ceramics testing facility, a machining facility, a valve assembly facility and a valve testing facility.
The company expects capital expenditures for the capacity expansion to total between US$27 million and US$30 million, of which the company has so far capitalised approximately US$2 million on land use rights. Of the remaining capital expenditure budget, Shengkai expects to use approximately an additional US$2 million on land ancillary facilities, US$11 million on equipment and US$12 million to US$15 million on construction.
''We are very excited to have started the construction of our new plant,'' said Chen Wang, CEO of Shengkai. ''This expected increase in capacity is timely as we expect to see significant growth in sales due to our efforts in promoting ceramic valve applications to specific industries, such as the petrochemical industries. In May 2009, we plan to host a trade event for our customer PetroChina, where we intend to present our new products and to educate this blue chip company on the benefits of ceramic valves over metal valves in abrasive and corrosive applications.''
Shengkai Innovations is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of ceramic valves, high-tech ceramic materials and the provision of technical consultation and related services. Its industrial valve products are used by companies in the electric power, petrochemical, metallurgy and environmental protection industries as high performance, more durable alternatives to traditional metal valves. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Tianjin, China.
It is one of the few ceramic valve manufacturers in the world with research and development, engineering and production capacity for structural ceramics and is reportedly the only valve manufacturer that is able to produce large-sized ceramic valves with calibres of 150mm or more. The product portfolio includes a broad range of valves that are sold throughout China, to North America, United Arab Emirates and other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The company has over 300 customers and is the only ceramic valve supplier qualified to supply SINOPEC. Shengkai also became a member of the PetroChina supply network in 2006.
ENDS