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HRB Bearing Launches Vast Expansion Program
Harbin Bearing Group (China; state-owned) will build a new manufacturing facility in the Limin Economic and Technology Development Zone, Hulan District.
The sprawling facility, scheduled for completion in 2011, will reportedly cover more than 300,000 square meters (3.2 million square feet) and have a price tag topping 1.5 billion yuan (USD $215 million).
Founded in 1950, Harbin's main factory in Heilongjiang covers 300,000 square meters. All told, the company employs more than 13,000 people and has annual production of more than 100 million bearings. Virtually all bearings are sold under the company's HRB brand.
Statistics and funding for such government-run businesses are murky, but it is likely that HRB is now or will become China's largest bearing manufacturer by output.
Harbin is a vertically integrated manufacturer, producing a wide variety of standard, rail, and aerospace-quality ball and roller bearings, including the rolling elements. Harbin Bearing also manufactures automotive wheel hub assembly units -- recently completing a 10,000 square meter addition to provide more floorspace for hub assembly production as Chinese auto manufacturer demand continues to rise.
When it is fully operational, the new plant will produce more than 5 billion yuan ($700 million) worth of bearings each year, returning a targeted pretax profit in the neighborhood of 900 million yuan.
Due to its size, HRB's construction program is being broken down into three phases. The first phase, running through 2008, will cost at least 300 million yuan and reportedly be dedicated to producing bearings for aircraft, military and defense equipment.
As a state-owned businesses, HRB is essentially operated by fiat. A year ago, in January 2007, the Chinese government determined the Harbin Bearing Group would be acquired by the giant China Aviation Industry Corp. I (AVIC I, state-owned).
State-run AVIC I was founded in 1999, when the government's massive and chronically underachieving aircraft and aerospace monolith was sliced into ten targeted units. The hope was to make China's aerospace and aviation programs responsive and competitive enough to compete on the world market.
CAIC / AVIC history at GlobalSecurity.org
AVIC I, with more than 50 aerospace and industrial manufacturing divisions, employs well over 200,000 workers. And it includes another 20 companies with 50,000 workers involved in R&D, materials imports and exports, and related businesses.
| Product Model | Inside Diameter | Outside Diameter | Thickness |
| B7021E.T.P4S bearing | 105 | 160 | 26 |
| B7021C.T.P4S bearing | 105 | 160 | 26 |