Doosan to build plant in China

Doosan Engine, a South Korean manufacturer of marine diesel engines, will establish an engine parts complex in China by 2008. The company plans to construct the complex on a 330,000 square metre site in the Dalian Economic Development Zone in northeastern China.

It will first accommodate machinery that will produce engine parts, including main bearings and bed plates, with commercial production scheduled to start in late 2006. Company officials said the plant would help satisfy the growing demand for engines in China and cut costs in entering the Chinese market.

Doosan Engine Parts and Shipbuilding Equipment Industry Cluster will be constructed in two stages and work is underway to establish a local affiliate with the goal of starting construction of a steel pipe manufacturing plant and a die-casting factory in September. Also, a foundry factory, and Doosan?s suppliers investing in China jointly with Doosan Engine among its partners will move into the area in stages by the end of 2008.

Earlier, Doosan signed an agreement to establish a joint venture with LS Cable and Samyang Heavy Machinery, and established CASCO, a molding company, in April. The new molding joint venture will make investments again and move into the industrial cluster in China after 2007. Doosan Engine has also signed an agreement with Samyoung M-tek co., Ltd. to establish a die-casting joint venture in China in May, and has exchanged a memorandum of understanding to jointly construct in a steel pipe factory with a Chinese partner in June.