DFG/TFG 425-435

Jungheinrich AG will invest an initial EUR2 million (USD2.4 million) to establish an assembly plant in Qingpu, near Shanghai, China.

The company aims to start manufacturing battery-powered pedestrian-controlled pallet trucks in the Chinese plant in the northern hemisphere autumn of 2006 to meet Asia's warehousing equipment demand.

Growth in the Asian materials handling market was around 21 per cent in 2004, Jungheinrich said in a statement.

In 2000, Jungheinrich established a sales company in Singapore and one in Shanghai, China, in 2004. In 2004, Jungheinrich also began sourcing hand pallet trucks from its Chinese joint-venture partner, Ningbo Ruyi Stock Co Ltd, based in Ninghai, Zhejiang.

The new assembly plant will be in the Qingpu industrial zone, about 60km from Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Fifty people will be employed to assemble the pallet trucks. Completed low and high platform trucks will be supplied to Jungheinrich's Chinese sales organisation, the Asian market and non-European markets.