Cranes and Cadillacs

Wow! Wednesday , January 7, 2009. We went on a boat on the Yangtze River to an island that is the base of Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Company, Ltd. (ZPMC) This company manufactures cranes and large steel structures. We were taken in a bus around the facilities and saw some of the parts of the new Oakland Bay bridge being fabricated.

ZPMC’s cranes are used in the port at Wilmington, NC. This company is highly integrated and produces all its own parts for a complete product. It supplies the cranes for Singapore which is the largest port in the world. It sold its first crane to the port at Vancouver, Canada. It sole its 1,000th crane to Vancouver as well.

The company has many quality certifications including ISO 9000 and ISO 14000. A competitive advantage of ZPMC is that it manufactures its own ships that deliver and set up the cranes in ports around the world. It is working on developing its off-shore business which includes oil rigs. Other products include fabrication of parts for wind turbines.

The company treated us to fabulous eight-course Chinese banquet-style lunch. It also presented us with an eight set DVD series on China’s Forbidden City.

Shanghai General Motors Company, Ltd. A vice-president, Ms. Lim, presented information about the company. We looked at the selection of cars in the showroom and then toured the factory. A Cadillac CTS in the showroom had a sticker price equivalent to US $70,000. The plant products several vehicles including the Aveo which is GM’s global vehicle.

The state issues a limited number of license plates each year. Residents then bid on purchasing these. The bid is expected to be the equivalent of US $4,000. Plates with desirable numbers will sell for considerably more especially those that include the numeral eight, which is considered a lucky number. This is like paying for a vanity plate in the States. There is an annual tax as well for the plate.

Both companies discussed the financial crisis. Both are experiening large downturns in revenues and future prospects.

We took a quick trip to Pudong New City to ride to the 57th floor which is the Radisson Hotel’s lobby to see the view.

Tomorrow we head to Hangzhou.