HONG KONG (May 7, 3 p.m. ET) — Injection molder and metals fabricator Eva Precision Industrial Holdings Ltd. is building a large factory complex in the central Chinese city of Wuhan to target China's domestic auto market.
The project is part of what the company said is a calculated move away from depending too much on its exports business.
The initial phase will only have metal stamping and processing capability, but the Hong Kong-based company, which has more than 300 Japanese-made injection molding machines in several other China factories, said it may add plastic molding to the Wuhan facility in later phases, depending on market response.
Eva said it would invest about HK$400 million (US$ 51.2 million) in the first phase and up to one billion Chinese yuan (US$156 million) in the total project, with about 1,000 employees in the first phase. Construction began in March and the initial phase is expected to finish in 2013.
The publicly-traded company last year said it was considering a Wuhan investment, after Chinese press reported that the company planned to build a factory there.
In its annual financial report to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, filed in late March, the company said it was now moving ahead with the investment. It provided additional details in an email to Plastics News.
Wuhan, in Hubei province, is a major Chinese vehicle manufacturing center. Eva said it would target local manufacturing plants of both foreign and domestic brands, including Honda, Nissan, Citroen, Peugeot and Dongfeng Motor Corp.
