Chinese rubber belt maker Sanwei ups capacity

Zhejiang Sanwei Rubber Item Co. Ltd., also known as Three-V, is investing about $43 million in expansion projects intended to upgrade capacity in Taizhou.

The plan includes construction of a new $7.6 million specialty conveyor belt plant. In addition to the construction, the firm plans to invest $5.5 million in new machinery and expects to spend $25.2 million on relocating its existing facilities. Sanwei also put aside an additional $4.7 million of floating capital.

The relocation project involves moving production of automobile raw edge V-belts and other V-belts that are equivalent to an A-type belt's cross-sectional area. The firm broke ground on that earlier in May.

The projects should be completed within two years and are expected to generate $9.4 million in annual profit on projected revenue of $109 million once on stream, according to the company.

The move helps Sanwei solidify its place in the Chinese belt market, where demand continues to grow.

"China is the world's largest single country market for both rubber belt production and consumption," the company said in a statement. "It is also one of the fastest growing markets,"

Sanwei was China's second largest V-belt maker in 2017.