Kobelco construction, crane businesses to merge
Parent Kobe Steel has announced that its Kobelco Construction Machinery and Kobelco Cranes subsidiaries will merge, effective April 1. The Kobelco construction equipment business spun off the crane business in 2004, after which the two companies focused on their individual global markets. Kobe Steel says it considers the merger “necessary to further strengthen its business foundation and accelerate global development” in construction equipment. The combined company will be known as Kobelco Construction Machinery, and have 7,629 employees. In addition to improving business efficiency and strengthening product development, Kobe Steel said the merger will allow it to pursue technology synergies of both excavators and cranes. Kobelco Construction Machinery USA announced in January of this year it was building an excavator plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, that would start producing 20-metric-ton excavators by next month.
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