Chinese injection press maker Shanghai GuangSu Plastics Manufacture Co. Ltd., which claims to be one of China's larger press manufacturers, is partnering with a Singaporean firm to make its first push into the world market.
Privately held Shanghai GuangSu - which started in 1992 and now says it makes more than 2,500 presses a year - is partnering in its fledgling overseas sales efforts with AMS System Services Pte. Ltd., a Singapore firm specializing in marketing Chinese capital equipment.
In May the two firms launched the venture in Singapore as GS Machinery International Pte. Ltd., and exhibited at the Thai International Plastics and Rubber Exhibition in Bangkok.
Terms were not disclosed, but AMS principal Peter Fung said he is a relative of GuangSu founder Chen Shao Guang. Fung said AMS has a background in textile equipment and has marketed Chinese oil and gas machinery worldwide.
Chinese markets are getting more difficult, and Guangsu believes it can compete in Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East and Russia, Fung said. Previously, the firm had sent a few machines to India, Israel and South Africa.
``Now in China there are lots of manufacturers [of molding equipment] and the competition is very intense,'' said Fung. ``Margins are getting lower.''
GuangSu does about US$9 million in overall sales, but hopes within three years to have exports of about US$2.5 million to US$6 million, Fung said.
Shanghai-based GuangSu also has a factory in Wenzhou, China. The firm makes presses from 50-530 metric tons and employs 250.