Alfa Laval, a world leader in heat transfer, centrifugal separation and fluid handling, today announced the expansion of the Jiangyin and Kunshan plants in China. Lars Renström, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group, travelled from Sweden to attend the expansion ceremony of the two China plants located near Shanghai.

The recent strong development in the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China) is not least evident in the Chinese market where Alfa Laval’s order intake has increased by 430% since year 2000. The US has for some time been the biggest market for Alfa Laval but is now challenged by China.

To meet the strong demand in Asia Alfa Laval is increasing the production capacity at the two manufacturing sites in Kunshan and Jiangyin. Lars Renström, President and CEO of the Alfa Laval Group will attend the inauguration ceremonies during the 27th and 28th May.

Alfa Laval has a significant presence in China with app. 900 employees working in manufacturing, engineering, service and sales – and with offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Dalian and Hong Kong. The company has two large manufacturing units close to Shanghai; one for plate heat exchangers and brazed heat exchangers in Jiangyin and one for fluid handling equipment in Kunshan.

A couple of years ago Alfa Laval invested in a new production line in the Jiangyin factory that doubled the production capacity of brazed heat exchangers to meet the strong rise in demand within comfort heating and cooling. A complete new factory was opened for assembly of high-speed separators. This factory also comprised repair lines for decanter centrifuges and high-speed separators, and a production line for tank cleaning equipment.

Now Alfa Laval invests additional 40 million RMB (app. 3.6 MEUR) in Jiangyin to meet the demand from mainly the comfort heating and cooling and the marine industries. The new investment will double the capacity for plate heat exchangers (to 10,000 units per year) and increase the capacity for gaskets by 40%. The expansion in Jiangyin plant will result in more than 100 new jobs.

Also the Kunshan factory has during the last years been undergoing a large expansion due to a substantial increase in sales volumes and transition of production from another factory. The new additional investment of app 17 million RMB (app. 1.5 MEUR) will increase the capacity further from 900 pumps produced in 2007 to 2500 units next year. The Kunshan plant, established in 1995, will after the expansion have nearly 300 employees.

More than half the volume produced in the two plants is exported to Sweden, Japan, Korea and other countries worldwide.

“Alfa Laval products are used in the HVAC, waste water treatment and shipbuilding industries. Their success is based on our unique knowledge and experience in the three key technologies; separation, heat transfer and fluid handling,” said Jason Chen, operation manager of Alfa Laval China. “This additional investment underscores our confidence in the Chinese market, enabling us to live up to our promises to our customers.”

About Alfa Laval

Alfa Laval is a leading global provider of specialized products and engineering solutions based on its key technologies of heat transfer, separation and fluid handling.

The company’s equipment, systems and services are dedicated to assisting customers in optimizing the performance of their processes. The solutions help them to heat, cool, separate and transport products in industries that produce food and beverages, chemicals and petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, starch, sugar and ethanol.

Alfa Laval’s products are also used in power plants, aboard ships, in the mechanical engineering industry, in the mining industry and for wastewater treatment, as well as for comfort climate and refrigeration applications.

Alfa Laval’s worldwide organization works closely with customers in nearly 100 countries to help them stay ahead in the global arena.

Alfa Laval is listed on the Nordic Exchange, Nordic Large Cap, and, in 2007, posted annual sales of about SEK 25 billion (approx. 2.7 billion EUR). The company has some 11,500 employees.

In 2008 Alfa Laval celebrates its 125 year anniversary.