Zibo Dahuanjiu Polygrace Tannery and Bridge of Weir Leather Co Ltd, a subsidiary of the Scottish Leather Group Ltd, have announced the creation of a collaborative business venture to produce automotive leather in China for the domestic motor industry which will meet the very high European automotive leather regulations. The venture is the result of several months of planning, negotiation and product development.
The aim is for Bridge of Weir to replicate their internationally respected chrome tanned and chrome free full grain leather at Polygrace’s newly equipped automotive leather production plant in Shandong province. The two companies have invested heavily in machinery, process controls and laboratory test equipment with the aim of supplying European, US, Japanese and Korean car makers which have set up assembly plants in China.
Jonathan Muirhead, chairman of the Scottish Leather Group, commented: ‘This collaborative and mutually exclusive venture marries the strengths of both organisations and is part of a long term strategy to further develop Bridge of Weir’s global presence in the automotive industry.’
Bulk production started in February this year and turnover in the first year is anticipated to be well ahead of forecast with sales expected to quadruple in the next five years. The venture will allow Polygrace, who are well known for their range of high quality furniture leathers, to broaden their product portfolio.
Hank Zhou, chairman of the board of Zibo Polygrace Tannery, said: ‘We are naturally pleased to be working with such a well known organisation as Bridge of Weir to supply automotive leathers to Chinese companies. We have invested heavily in new equipment to provide additional production capacity and we are building a laboratory capable of testing for automotive requirements. This will allow us to meet the anticipated growth in demand for automotive leather while also being of benefit to our existing furniture customers.’
