Lovsuns closes Toronto TBM manufacturing facility 12 Jan 2017

Lovsuns, the TBM manufacturing division of Chinese parent company LNSS (Liaoning Censcience Industry), is to close its manufacturing operations in Toronto, Canada, and concentrate on strengthening production potential in China and improve logistics worldwide.

The move takes effect this month (January 2017) and will close out a history of TBM manufacturing in Canada established by the Lovat company, which was sold to Caterpillar in 2008 before Caterpillar pulled out of the TBM manufacturing business in 2013 and sold the intellectual property and Toronto manufacturing and office facilities to LNSS in 2014.

TunnelTalk Editor meets Lovsuns management at recent trade show

In a statement by Lovesuns, Hongyu Xue, General Manager of operations in Toronto, explained that contracts and obligations entered into prior to closure will be honoured and that the company will continue to hold a base in Toronto to strengthen its engineering, sales and after sales services for international customers. According to the statement, all management, sales, engineering, procurement and technical staff based in Toronto will be unaffected by the change. Orders for new or refurbished Lovsuns TBMs received after January will be fulfilled by the company’s headquarters and factory facilities in China.

As sole holder of the intellectual properties of the Lovat/Caterpillar Tunneling Company, Lovsuns will continue to provide technical and after sales support for its fleet of TBMs currently in service, will supply products and services to international customers, and will work to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

Lovsuns, as one of a number of emerging TBM manufacturers in China, had a significant presence at bauma China in Shanghai in November 2016 and at bauma Conexpo India in Delhi in December 2016. Competition among a growing number of Chinese TBM manufacturers is set to increase and undermine the current status quo within the international TBM market place.