Mine blasting and explosives solutions group MAXAM has announced today the official opening of its state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Pingyi, Shandong Province, China. The strategic move marks the official commencement of MAXAM’s business operations in China, one of the largest and fastest-growing civil explosive markets in the world.
Located in the Lao Qiuyu mountain area in Pingyi County, about 100 km northwest of Lingyi City, the new facility will manufacture civil explosives and initiation systems for the mining, quarrying and infrastructure construction industries in China. The plant has an annual production capacity of 10,000 t of watergel cartridges and 60 million detonators.
“We are very excited about starting our new journey in China, a large and promising market,” commented José Fernando Sánchez-Junco Mans, Chairman and CEO, MAXAM. “The Chinese economy is now on its strategic transformation trajectory to sustainability and high-quality growth, which provides tremendous business opportunities to MAXAM. Our new manufacturing facility is evidence of MAXAM’s confidence about its future in China and its strong commitment to the Chinese market.”
The new facility is a joint venture project between MAXAM and Shandong Tianbao and Weihai Yuboqiang, with an investment of €70 million Euros by MAXAM. “Through a joint venture partnership, MAXAM brings its industry-leading technologies and solutions to China, addressing the growing needs of Chinese customers for safe and higher-quality explosives, while helping raise the bar of sustainability and safety of the civil explosive industry.”
With a total area of 455,000 square metres, the new plant adopts a culture of safety and highly automated processes. “Here, MAXAM has deployed their global standards and best practices, striving to guarantee utmost safety and quality in operations. Founded by Alfred Nobel in 1872, MAXAM is bringing to China the energy and experience of a global technology leader with 147 years of history.”
In addition to the new manufacturing facility in Shandong, MAXAM now has offices in Beijing. It currently employees over 100 employees in China.