Trelleborg to build marine products plant under restructuring plan

Jun 26, 2023

TRELLEBORG, Sweden—Trelleborg Group is investing in a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam to produce equipment for marine infrastructure, fenders and related equipment.

The project is part of a larger restructuring, under which Trelleborg will concentrate its manufacture of such products in Vietnam and China, according the Swedish group.

The $36 million facility at Ba Ria Vung Tau, near Ho Chi Minh City, is expected to start production in 2026, Trelleborg said in a May 23 announcement.

With the restructuring, the group is moving production from Ridderkerk, the Netherlands to its existing marine facility in China, and to some extent to its Singapore facility.

Then it will transfer Singapore production to the new Vietnam manufacturing facility, the company told European Rubber Journal.

While manufacturing will close in the Netherlands in the "next months," the facility in Singapore is set for closure in 2026.

Trelleborg noted that the plant closures in the Netherlands and Singapore were "partially driven" by local authorities' alternative plans for the locations.

Eventually, it said, some product-manufacture will be transferred from China to Vietnam, enabling the Chinese site to focus more on its large domestic market.

In the Netherlands and Singapore, meanwhile, Trelleborg is setting up "sales & design engineering excellence centers" for tunnel seals and marine offshore infrastructure, such as offshore wind power.

The investment in Vietnam will "broaden and concentrate" the group's geographical presence in the region, said Trelleborg president and CEO Peter Nilsson.

"Vietnam is centrally located in Asia with access to a well-educated work force and good supply chains in the form of global shipping routes," added Nilsson.

In addition, Trelleborg expects to gain "competitive flexibility and structure" as well as greater "market-awareness" with the new location.

The facility, it added, will employ efficient production processes as well as sustainability features such as solar panels, and water and wastewater management systems.

The new unit will be Trelleborg's second facility in Vietnam, in addition to a currently under-construction plant for sealing solutions.

The group expects to inaugurate the sealing plant by the yearend, thereby "significantly increasing" production capacity for engineered seals for several industries.

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