Chinese injection molding machinery maker Haitian International Holdings Ltd. is accenting the "international" by announcing a 290,625-square-foot manufacturing plant in Mexico.
Haitian officials will hold a groundbreaking ceremony May 28 for what they term the first phase of the plant in Acatlán de Juárez, about 30 miles from Guadalajara.
The plant is expected to open about 18 to 20 months after the groundbreaking, according to José Barroso, commercial director of the company's local subsidiary, Haitian Huayuan Mexico S de RL de CV. He said about 300 people will work there to start.
The factory will produce Haitian machines for Mexico, Central America and some countries in South America, Barroso said.
Barroso could not give an investment amount.
Plans for the manufacturing plant continue a string of investment in Mexico for Ningbo, China-based Haitian. At the recent Plastimagen trade show in Mexico City, Barroso said Haitian is setting up two new tech centers in Mexico this year, in Monterrey and Juárez, which will give it six in Mexico.
Haitian posted 2018 sales in Mexico of about $32 million, and it sold about 400 presses there. Barroso said the company is the leading press supplier in Mexico, with an estimated market share of 30 percent.
Just two days after the groundbreaking in Mexico, on May 30, Haitian will hold a grand opening ceremony at a new U.S. operations center in Moncks Corner, S.C., north of Charleston. That building, measuring 116,000 square feet, including an assembly area, is part of Absolute Haitian Corp., the exclusive sales and service unit for Haitian injection presses in the United States and Canada.
