Timken Marks Tenth Anniversary in China

Timken Marks Tenth Anniversary in China The Timken Company (USA; NYSE TKR) will continue to grow aggressively in China, according to President and CEO, Jim Griffith. Mr. Griffith was in China to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its first manufacturing venture there, in Shandong. On a pace that has seen Timken adding one new manufacturing plant in the country each year for the past four years, Mr. Griffith indicated the push will continue unabated. James Gresh, President of Timken China, said: "Timken is committed to growing rapidly in China and we are looking at opportunities." Timken opened its first sales office in Hong Kong in 1992, another in Shanghai in 1993 and Beijing in 1996. Today, there are sales offices in seven major cities. A large distribution center is located in Pudong New Area, near Shanghai. The door opened in 1996, when Timken established its first manufacturing joint venture there -- Yantai Timken, with local partner Shandong Yantai Bearing Factory. But unhappy with the performance, quality, and unwilling to mark the bearings with the Timken brand, Timken bought out Shandong Yantai in 2001. The plant posted its first profit in 2004. Today, Yantai Timken produces Timken branded bearings for automotive and industrial applications, and reportedly has a capacity of more than 5 million sets per year. Mr. Gresh said: "A bearing component made at Yantai can be paired with its match from any other Timken plant and both will fit together." "We intend to duplicate our success in Yantai time and time again in China," said Mr. Gresh, "Our growth in China is exciting, but it has just started." Another important step in both its China and joint venture strategies occurred in 2003, when Timken teamed with NSK Ltd. (Japan) to build a plant in Suzhou, producing single-row tapered roller bearings for automotive and industrial applications. It came online in 2004. Timken is working on its fifth plant, in Wuxi province, tying to a facility inherited with the acquisition of Torrington. Although the Chinese market is currently not a major factor in Timken's worldwide sales, its importance is growing. Across all of Asia, sales were approximately $300 million in 2005. Employment in the region has reached 3,500, and the company just graduated its first group of engineers from a new training center. Mr. Gresh said: "We are truly dedicated to the long-term growth of Timken in China. We have been growing at a rate of more than 20% each year and have aspirations to double our sales here again by the end of the decade." Mr. Griffith commented: "China is our number one growth priority in the world; China is the platform from which to build our second century of success."