Yokohama sets up JV to make conveyor belts in Weifang, Shandong

Tokyo -- The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that in January 2006 - through its holding company in China, Yokohama Rubber (China) Co., Ltd. - it will establish Shandong Yokohama Rubber Industrial Products Co., Ltd., in city of Weifang, Shandong Province, China.

Shandong Yokohama Rubber Industrial Products will be capitalised at $9.7 million, 51% of which will be invested by Yokohama Rubber (China), and 49% by the Shandong Yuema Rubber Belt Co., Ltd., a Chinese conveyor-belt manufacturer. The unit is expected to employ 300.

In a statement, YRC said "In order to meet brisk overseas demand for conveyor belts, Yokohama Rubber decided to increase production capacity by producing conveyor belts in China. It then chose Shandong Yuema Rubber Belt Co., Ltd. - a Chinese conveyor-belt manufacturer ranked sixth in total sales in China - as a joint venture partner in the production of Yokohama-brand conveyor belts in China, so as to increase their sales both in China and internationally. Immediately after the joint venture is established, it will begin capital investments to improve quality. Production of Yokohama-brand steel code conveyor belts will commence in June 2006, and fabric conveyor belts, in the Autumn of that year."