Chinese machine OEMs had a strong presence at the recent Koplas show in Goyang near Seoul, and there is concrete evidence that they are emerging as strong competitors to local South Korean machine builders. Yizumi Precision Machinery, for example, has shipped 14 machines already to Korean Tier I processor Korea Wecosta, with the 1100-tonne two-platen press that was on show at Koplas the latest to be installed in the Tier I’s new plant. The company has delivered machines with clamping forces of 120–1800 tonnes to date. In 2016, Yizumi sales were up 50% in South Korea due to this new customer.
Previously molders were concerned about our machines quality but they’ve come to accept that we are up there with their entry level performance requirements and are 10-15% lower in price than our Korean competitors,” said regional sales manager Michelle Chen. “We can’t meet all of their needs but our machine performance is sufficient for basic parts,” she added.