Japanese bicycle-parts maker Shimano invests 20b yen in Jurong plant

SINGAPORE has attracted some 20 billion yen (S$245.6 million) in investment from Japanese bicycle-parts maker Shimano, with its upcoming plant in Jurong Innovation District (JID) expected to help meet rising demand for cycling products, Nikkei Asia has reported.

Most of this figure is for Shimano's previously-announced Factory of the Future in the JID, for which ground was broken in 2018.

Originally meant to be completed by 2020, the plant was delayed due a reduction in available construction workers amid the Covid-19 pandemic, and is now scheduled to come online by the end of 2022, said the Nikkei Asia report.

In a 2018 statement, the Economic Development Board said Shimano's factory in the JID was to involve S$115 million in fixed investment in the initial years, with cumulative fixed investment increasing by more than 30 per cent by 2021.

In an interview with Nikkei Asia, Shimano's newly-appointed president Taizo Shimano noted that the pandemic had caused a surge in demand for bicycles as a transportation method with a relatively low risk of Covid-19 transmission.

Shimano is facing a shortage in production capacity, with a high share of the global market for bicycle transmissions and other components. The JID plant will produce parts such as transmissions for high-end bicycles.