A 50-50 Chinese joint venture has been officially established between Metso and LiuGong that will be called Liugong Metso Construction Equipment (Shanghai Ltd) and headquartered in Shanghai. The new company is intended to combine Metso鈥檚 track-mounted crushing and screening business and technology with LiuGong鈥檚 substantial distribution and manufacturing capability.

The new company鈥檚 initial activities will centre around the design and manufacture of versions of Metso鈥檚 Lokotrack mobile crushers and screeners, with the first of these expected to be available in the first half of this year. These products will be sold under the LiuGong Metso brand name, and the range may well be expanded in the future.

According to Jo茫o Ney Colagrossi, Metso鈥檚 president, mining and construction: 鈥淭he joint venture enables the capture of a significant market share of the fast growing mobile crushing and screening market in China. Our target is to build a market driven technology offering and the joint venture with LiuGong is a major step towards this direction. Together with the acquisitions of the steel foundry in Quzhou City and Shaorui Heavy Industries Ltd. announced last year, the joint venture significantly strengthen our supply capabilities for mining and construction industries in China.鈥�