Sister companies Klueber Lubrication and Chem-Trend will expand their manufacturing facilities in Qingpu, China, parent Freudenberg Chemical Specialities announced last week.
The expansion is the second part of a three-phase capital investment plan and was mentioned as part of Freudenbergs announcement that it has finished building a research and development center on the same site.
Munich-based Freudenberg did not disclose the size of the expansion or its cost. It did say that the overall investment plan, which will include expansion of warehouse and storage facilities after the manufacturing expansion, will cost 18 million (U.S. $20.2 million). Upon completion of the third phase, the combined facilities will occupy 66,000 square meters.
Klueber manufactures and markets specialty lubricants, while Chem-Trend supplies release agents and process aids. Freudenberg said it is expanding their facilities in order to accommodate growth. In 2013, officials said, Freudenberg reported record sales in China of RMB 5.4 billion (U.S. $866 million), a 33 percent increase from 2012.