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Japan's Muro to build mold factory in Vietnam

TOKYO - Japanese auto parts manufacturer Muro Corp will expand its operations to Vietnam next fall, launching production of molds and pressed parts.

The products will be shipped to Japan and a subsidiary in the United States, as well as sold to Japanese manufacturers of agricultural equipment with operations in Vietnam.

Muro will set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Ho Chi Minh City as early as late January with a capitalization of 300 million yen (US$2.9 million). The Japanese firm has already leased a plot of some 23,000 square meters in the city, and will start constructing a factory with about 1,500 square meters in floor space immediately after the unit's creation.

The new plant is expected to come onstream in November 2005 to repair used molds and produce new ones, handling a total of 200 units in the first year. Muro will make an additional investment in the second year to raise annual production to 360 units a year, or 20% of the firm's annual domestic repair and production capacity of 1,800 units.

Demand for pressed parts is growing amid the spread of hybrid cars and other factors, but Muro's two mold production plants in Japan are already operating at full capacities. The Vietnamese plant will enable the firm to increase production not only of molds but also parts in such areas as car bodies.

Revenue at the planned Vietnamese unit is projected at 300 million yen in the year ending December 2006.

(Asia Pulse/Nikkei)

Dec 15, 2004

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