The Italian company SAME DEUTZ-FAHR (SDF)one of the world's leading manufacturers of agricultural machinery, yesterday opened a new 45-million-euro plant in northeastern city Dalian.

The new plant will manufacture up to 6,000 tractors per year for the Chinese and international markets. Its production capacity could be increased to up to 14,000 units per year with additional investments.

The plant's operation will create up to 500 jobs in five years and an additional 3,000 jobs in allied industries.

"This new facility is directly tied to SDF's strategic initiatives, allowing us to get closer to our customers here in China," said Vittorio Carozza, chairman of the SDF Group.

"Our aim is to play a key role in the mechanization of Chinese agriculture, bringing improvements to the quality of life for China's rural communities, just as the company has done for European farmers throughout its history in Europe," he added.

SDF said they chose Dalian as the site for the plant because the city offers a number of logistical advantages. The city is already an operational base for DEUTZ (Dalian) Engine Co Ltd, a joint venture manufacturing and selling diesel engines.

Over the next few years, China will become the world's most important tractor market. The profit from China's agricultural machinery industry has grown more than 50 percent year-on-year, according to the China International Agricultural Machinery Industry Association.

Based in Treviglio, in northern Italy, SDF is a leading manufacturers of tractors, combine harvesters, engines and agricultural machinery. In 2005, it achieved a turnover of 936.5 million euro and a net profit of 31.6 million euro.

China's machinery industry developed rapidly last year, when a number of the sector's technologies rose to meet international standards.

(China Daily 03/09/2007 page14)

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