The plant in Valinhos, Sao Paulo.

Dabo Material Handling Equipment Brasil SA, part of the Korean Young An Group, has opened a 2,000 square metre plant in Valinhos, Sao Paulo.

Young An, which bought the Clark Forklift trademark from Clark Material Handling Company in 2003, plans to invest up to USD500,000 at the new plant (Forkliftaction.com News #92).

Also in the pipeline were plans to start a forklift assembly in the new Brazilian plant and to increase investments in plants in Korea, the US, Mexico, Spain, Germany and China, Dabo said in a statement.

According to Dabo, Clark held a 14 per cent share of the Brazilian internal combustion engine forklift market in 2004. For 2005, Clark set a goal to achieve a 20 per cent market share, which it reached in the first quarter of this year.

Clark accounts for 35 per cent of the Young An business and the group aims to invest USD50 million in the forklift business in 2005.

The Young An Group has annual sales of USD1.5 billion and employs 10,500 people in its plants worldwide.