SMS Meer Contracted for New Press in China

Forging press builder SMS Meer will design and supply a 45/50 MN open-die press for China’s Tiangong AIHE Co. Ltd. in Danyang City, Jiangsu Province. The new machine will have a press force of 40 MN and an upsetting force of 45 MN, for processing tool steel, stainless steel and high-alloy materials for various industrial applications.

The contract, which SMS values at $20 million, was announced at an investment conference in Dusseldorf, Germany, the China/Jiangsu Forum. The Forum presented details of regional projects, information on trade and investment opportunities in manufacturing, service and agricultural industry in the Jiangsu Costal Area Development.

Jiangsu province, in the Yangtse Delta on China’s eastern coast, reportedly has about 76 million residents, and China’s central government together with the provincial government has established a national development program to improve and expand the regional infrastructure.

Jiangsu’s Provincial Vice-Governor Zhao Kezhi and North Rhine-Westphalia Minister for Economic Affairs Christa Thoben, joined in the announcement with Jiangsu Tiangong AIHE International president Zhu Xiao Kun and SMS Meer Hydraulic Presses Div. president Ulrich Vohskamper.