Weir opens new foundry in China

The Weir Group, a global mining technology leader, has officially opened its new foundry in Xuzhou, China. The foundry, which is part of Weir's ESCO global foundry network, expands capacity for the manufacture of ESCO^® ground engaging tools, or GET, in line with continued growth opportunities.

The opening ceremony, hosted by Weir's CEO Jon Stanton, was attended by a Senior Leadership Team from Xuzhou Hi-Tech Industry Zone and other members of Weir and its ESCO division from China and across the globe.

Occupying a 16.5-acre site in Xuzhou's High-Tech Industrial Zone, the new foundry features the very latest technology and equipment, incorporating high levels of automation. These enable us to optimise capacity and enhance our foundry processes, improving efficiency and further reducing cost of manufacture, aligned with the goals of our Performance Excellence transformation programme. It strengthens our global foundry network, ensuring we remain highly responsive to customers' needs.

The new foundry represents a $60m investment and will replace our existing foundry that is located close by.  Staying in Xuzhou allows us to capitalise on our culture of continuous improvement and sustainability, resulting in consistently high performance in process control, safety, employee engagement and on time delivery. We are pleased to retain our highly skilled and loyal workforce - many of whom have been with us since we began foundry operations in Xuzhou in 2006.

The new foundry has been designed to produce a wider range of our proprietary GET products, including larger sized components, enabling the manufacture of more product types in a more cost-effective way. It expands our foundry capacity in China by over 30% and provides additional flexibility across our global network to best serve our customers around the world.

Speaking at today's official opening, Jon Stanton, CEO of Weir said:

"The opening of our new foundry in Xuzhou is a significant strategic milestone for Weir. I'd like to congratulate our project team in Xuzhou who have designed and built what we expect to be the safest, most efficient, most sustainable, most advanced foundry within our global network. I'd also like to thank our partners throughout the Xuzhou government for their time and experience to help deliver this important project."

"This investment demonstrates our commitment to long-term presence and economic contribution in Xuzhou, ensuring Weir drives further efficiency and sustainability in our operations while supporting our continued growth as supplier of premium mining GET technology to customers worldwide." 

Further information

View a video introducing the new ESCO foundry: https://www.global.weir/investors/capital-markets-event-2023/

Learn more about ESCO's GET technology: https://www.global.weir/brands/esco/

About The Weir Group PLC

Founded in 1871, The Weir Group PLC is one of the world's leading engineering businesses with a purpose to make its mining and infrastructure customers' operations more sustainable and efficient. Weir's highly engineered technology enables critical resources to be produced using less energy, water and waste while reducing customers' total cost of ownership. The Group is ideally positioned to benefit from structural trends that support long-term demand for its technology including the need for more essential metals to support economic development and carbon transition. The Group has c.12,000 employees operating in over 50 countries with a presence in every major mining region of the world. Find out more at www.global.weir.

Weir's ordinary shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: WEIR LN) and its American Depositary Receipts trade over-the-counter in the USA (ticker: WEGRY).

About Weir ESCO

Weir ESCO^® designs, manufactures and services mission-critical equipment used by companies in mining and infrastructure markets. Backed by more than 100 years of experience in the science of metals, alloys and wear materials, ESCO attachments and wear parts are recognised as industry-leading and innovative products. ESCO custom-engineered solutions enhance customer safety, improve productivity and provide customers a superior total cost of ownership. Its global sales and support network enables availability and service in all key markets.