Japan’s leading producer of heavy construction machinery, Komatsu is willing to make excavators in Russia.
Photo: Sergey Mikheev
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Japan’s Komatsu to Make Excavators in Russia
Japan’s leading producer of heavy construction machinery, Komatsu is willing to make excavators in Russia starting from 2010, RIA Novosti signaled with reference to Japan’s Nikkei.
But cautious spokesmen of Komatsu neither confirmed nor denied the data to RIA Novosti. They said no final decision has been made so far, they are just deliberating on the possibility and studying the market potential. If emerged, the plant will be targeted at Russia’s consumers rather than at exports to some third countries, representatives of Komatsu said.
According to Nikkei, however, Komatsu is already in talks with Russia’s authorities and probes into the Moscow region and some other regions of the country as potential sites for construction. A definite site will be chosen during a year, the newspaper reported.
The legal status of a new firm hasn’t been decided yet. It could be a company with 100 percent ownership of Komatsu or a joint venture. The project budget is estimated at a few billion yens (¥1 billion corresponds to $8.3 million). The initial plans are to annually produce up to a thousand excavators.
The excavators' demand in Russia is forecasted to surge 40 percent on year to roughly 8.500 in 2007. Komatsu that supplied 1,400 excavators last year covers about 20 percent of the market today. Its key competitors here are U.S. Carterpillar and Japan’s Hitachi.
Another weighty proof of Komatsu’s desire to launch production facilities in Russia is the working meeting of RF Industry and Energy Ministry with the company’s representatives that was held in late July. Komatsu is going to arrange in Russia full-scale production of construction machinery, the ministry reported after the talks.
www.kommersant.com
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