Liugong to build 3,000 cranes a year

Liugong, one of China's largest earthmoving equipment manufacturers has branched out into the crane sector with the construction of a new factory in Bengbu, Anhui Province. The company has set a target of 3,000 crawler and mobile crane sales in 2011, writes Chris Sleight.

Liugong is one of China's oldest and largest earthmoving equipment manufacturers. Recent years have seen it branch out from its mainstay wheeled loader line into other machine types, for example, excavators and road building equipment. It has now added cranes to its portfolio, with three mobile and three crawler models.

Zeng Guang'an, Liugong president, told IC, "This year we have a 50, 70 and 100 tonne mobile crane, which are the popular sizes in China. We also have three models of crawlers - 55, 80 and 160 tonnes - again, these are the most popular models in China."

According to Zeng, at 55,000 square metres, the company's new dedicated crane factory in Bengbu is the largest of Liugong's facilities.

"It will have a capacity of 3,000 machines per year, and we hope to be selling that many cranes within three years," Zeng said, adding that the cranes will be available both inside and outside China. "I'm very confident about these numbers. I think we have good products, and we have a very strong dealer network, both in China and overseas," Zeng said.