British Steel has opened a GBP26 million (USD32 million) forklift mast manufacturing facility as it looks to expand its footprint in the market.

The company says the Skinningrove Service Centre includes four new CNC lathes for turning mill rolls, three automated bandsaws for cutting stock to exact lengths, a laser measurement system for process control of every bar rolled, and a warehousing system for storing and processing material from the rolling mill. 

The manufacturing hub has been built at British Steel’s Skinningrove site, which has been in operation for more than 150 years. 

In a statement, British Steel says the facility will “enable us to explore growth opportunities across the globe for our standard and bespoke forklift mast profiles, with the new warehousing and processing facility forecast to significantly increase throughput within the next two years”.

British Steel sales director, special projects, Richard Napier explains this is the largest investment in the company’s forklift mast business in 30 years.

“The new facility also firmly establishes us as one of the world’s leading manufacturers and processors of value-added profiles for the forklift industry,” he adds.