Local government representatives and industry members attended last month's groundbreaking ceremony for Jungheinrich Lift Truck Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co Ltd's new factory.

Jungheinrich is gearing up for increased demand from the Asian market with a new plant in Qingpu, China.

Jungheinrich AG board chairman Hans-Georg Frey was among the local government representatives and industry members, and colleagues who were present at last month's groundbreaking ceremony for Jungheinrich Lift Truck Manufacturing (Shanghai) Co Ltd's new factory.

The plant will be built on a 60,000 sqm (645,835 sqft.) site, which is about 3km from the existing factory (Forkliftaction.com News #275). Like the current plant, the new facility will be in the Qingpu industrial zone, located about 60 km (37 mi.) from Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Frey says the decision to build the new plant underlines the importance of the Chinese market and the Asian region for the company. Jungheinrich has operated its own sales company in China since 2004. In 2006, the company opened its Qingpu manufacturing plant. The site was initially an assembly plant for pedestrian trucks, but in 2007, it started producing the EJC series 1 hand pallet trucks. In 2008, the factory produced the EFG 2n and 3n series electric counterbalance trucks.

This year, China recorded a 70% growth from 2009's market volume of 120,000 units to 200,000 units.

According to Jungheinrich market intelligence, about 300,000 industrial trucks were sold in the Asian region in 2010, up from only 180,000 units in 2005.

"Asia exceeded the European market volume for the first time in 2010 - with the growth locomotive China as the trailblazer. This alone shows how important this market is for us," Frey says.

The new factory will enable Jungheinrich to quadruple production capacities for the Asian market by 2015.

The concept for the new factory is based on ecological principles. Besides using geothermal energy, the creation of a photovoltaic system is planned. "The created energy will charge the truck batteries at the factory," explains factory manager Reinhild Kühne.

"The investment in a new factory is a great leap forward for Jungheinrich in China," Kühne said at the ceremony.