China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group Holdings Limited (“China Rongsheng Heavy Industries” or the “Group”; SEHK: 1101), announced that Rongsheng Machinery Limitied (“Rongsheng Machinery”)(previously Anhui Rongan Heavy Industries Machinery Company Limited), its new plant in Hefei, has commenced production today and the Group’s first-ever excavator has also been produced on the same day.
Officiating at the plant’s opening ceremony were leaders of the Hefei Municipal Government as well as top management of the Group including Mr. Deng Hui, Executive Director of China Rongsheng Heavy Industries and Mr. Yu Zheng, Chairman and President of Rongsheng Machinery Limited. Suppliers and agents of Rongsheng Machinery also attended the ceremony that day. Rongsheng Machinery also formally signed contracts with suppliers and agents at that time and completed the sale of its first dynamic compactor.
Mr. Chen Qiang, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Rongsheng, said, “With the new Hefei plant, the Group is boosting its engineering machinery business, further implementing diversification of its four major business segments while enlarging its share of RMB-denominated business. Through its diversification strategy, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries has kept in step with the industrial planning policy of Anhui Province to develop Hefei into a ‘City of Engineering Machinery’. Also, guided by its own overall strategy of ‘co-developing the marine and offshore businesses’, the Group has entered into the engineering machinery market by acquiring a majority equity interest in Hefei Zhenyu Enginnering Machinery Company Limited (“Zhenyu Engineering Machinery”) in March 2010. The Group has also established and registered Rongsheng Machinery in the same month. It has actively expanded its production base with an aim to increase production capacity.”
Rongsheng Machinery’s new plant is located in Hefei Economic and Technology Development Zone. The excavator project covers an area of approximately 850 acres. The construction began in November 2010 with production commencing on 28 June 2011. The project was completed in just over than seven months, much shorter than the industry average of 18 months for constructing a general assembly workshop. It indeed has set a standard for engineering construction across the industry.
The Group believes that urbanisation and infrastructure investment in railways, highways and utilities in China will continue. Consequently, this will create enormous demand for the engineering machinery segment, especially excavators, and thus a rapid growing phase for the industry together with opportunities for emerging producers are expected.
Rongsheng Machinery’s small excavator production line has commenced operation on 18 May this year, and its engineering machinery business is entering a stage of comprehensive development. The new production facility will have a production capacity of 30,000 hydraulic excavators. Every stage of the excavator production base project, from proposal, and submission for approval to preparation for construction, has enjoyed the close attention and strong support from all levels of leaders in the province and the city as well as the economic development zone. Anhui Provincial Government has designated the project as a major construction project in its “861 Action Plan”. The Hefei Municipal Government has also included it as a major implementation project under the Twelfth Five-Year Plan.
Rongsheng Machinery currently produces 16 varieties of hydraulic excavators and two varieties of hydraulic crawler cranes. While constructing a new production base, Rongsheng Machinery has also shifted from direct sales outside province to distribution, increasing the number of its distributors to 10. Rongsheng Machinery has also enhanced its cooperation with financial institutions. In addition, the acquisition of Quanchai Group in April this year has enabled it to secure a stable supply of engines for the engineering machinery segment.
Development of the engineering machinery business will also facilitate China Rongsheng Heavy Industries to increase its RMB-denominated business as an effective means to combat against foreign exchange risk. Mr. Chen Qiang said, “Given the continued appreciation of the RMB compared to the US dollar, the Group will actively expand the shipbuilding and engineering machinery businesses in the PRC. The Group intends to establish a RMB settlement business, with the comprehensive development of the engineering machinery business, the Group is expected to have a more diversified income stream and achieve a more balanced mix of RMB- and US dollar-denominated income.”
Since the acquisition of Zhenyu Engineering Machinery in March 2010, the engineering machinery business has contributed a total revenue of RMB327.3 million to the Group, mainly derived from the sale of excavators and crawler cranes.
About China Rongsheng Heavy Industries Group
Established in 2005, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries advanced to become a market leader in the Chinese shipbuilding industry within five years. According to Clarkson Research, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries was the second largest shipbuilder and the largest privately-owned shipbuilder in the PRC in terms of total order book measured by DWT as of end of 2010, and had the largest shipyard in the PRC. China Rongsheng Heavy Industries was also a global leader in manufacture of VLOCs of over 400,000 DWT. Headquartered in Hong Kong and Shanghai, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries has production facilities in Nantong of Jiangsu Province and Hefei of Anhui Province. Currently, China Rongsheng Heavy Industries’ business spans four segments: shipbuilding, offshore engineering, marine engine building and engineering machinery. Rongsheng products include bulk carriers, crude oil tankers, containerships, offshore engineering products, low-speed marine diesel engines and small to mid-size excavators for construction and mining uses. It has established strategic cooperations with renowned international classification societies including DNV, ABS, LR, GL and CCS, and has built a customer base including enterprises such as CNOOC, Vale, Geden Line, Cardiff Marine Inc., MSFL and Frontline Ltd. The Group’s products have been sold to 11 countries and regions including Turkey, Norway, Germany, Brazil, Singapore and China.
