UK floor covering specialist Low & Bonar in 200 million yuan Jiangsu expansion

Low & Bonar, the British maker of high-performance materials used in flooring and the building industry, is doubling production at its facility in Changzhou, Jiangsu province, buoyed by strong demand from Chinese customers.

Chief executive Brett Simpson also told the South China Morning Post that the extra production line at the plant, about 160 kilometres northwest of Shanghai, would be operational by 2018 to reinforce its expansion.

“China’s is a growing and very important part of our global strategy,” Simpson said. “In the areas where we are investing, we see solid underlying trends.”

The company, which has its roots in Dundee in Scotland, started building the wholly owned factory in Changzhou in 2015 and launched operations there last year.

Currently, 60 million square metres of its “Colback” product, a widely used non-woven material used in the backing of carpet tiles, wall-to-wall carpeting, mats and moulded car carpets, can be produced in the factory each year. Expanding the facility will cost about 200 million yuan (US$29 million).

Low & Bonar’s products are also used in roofing, air and water filtration, road and rail construction and decorative products.