Caterpillar Inc. said it will build a new assembly plant in China to produce small hydraulic excavators as the company continues to expand its production capacity in developing regions.
Construction of the plant in Wujiang is expected to begin by the end of the year, with excavator production scheduled to start in 2012. Caterpillar, the world’s largest manufacturer of construction equipment by sales, has supplied the Chinese market with excavators weighing less than eight tons from plants in Xuzhou, China, and Sagami, Japan.
Opening a separate plant for mini-excavators in China will free up production space for other equipment lines in the plants in Xuzhou and Sagami, the Peoria-based company said.
“China is the world’s largest market for excavators in the below eight-ton class,” said Mary Bell, vice president of Caterpillar’s Building Construction Products division, which is responsible for the company’s compact machinery lines.
