Kobelco Construction Machinery USA has announced its plan to construct a hydraulic excavator production facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina. A production factory in North America will allow Kobelco to reduce the production lead-time of machinery for its US customers and improve its capabilities for meeting market needs.

Site preparation for the US production facility will begin in April 2015 and is expected to be completed in December 2015. Kobelco?s $41 million investment will involve the development of a 156,000 sq ft production factory, 17,000 sq ft office building, machinery parking and a testing area. With an estimated annual capacity of 1,800 units, the US factory will begin mass production in January 2016.