By Mike Boyer
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Plastic technology provider Milacron Inc. Wednesday announced its first joint venture in China.

The company, which has exported machines to China for a number of years, said it was teaming with Jiangnan Mould & Plastic Technology Co. Ltd., a unit of Jiangyin Mould Plastics Group Co. in Jiangyin, Jiangsu province, to build injection-molding machines for the growing Chinese market.

Financial terms weren't disclosed but Milacron said it would own 70 percent of the joint venture operating under the name Milacron Plastics Machinery (Jiangyin) Co. The venture will lease 50,000 square feet in Jiangnan's plant in eastern China and employ 50 initially.

Jiangyin, founded in the sixth century, has a population of more than 200,000. Other manufacturing in the city, located about 1,100 miles northwest of Beijing on the Yangtze River, includes apparel, fabric and machinery.

Chairman Ron Brown said establishing a plant in China was key to serving the increasing number of Milacron customers setting up operations in China.

"This is not an outsourcing move," said Milacron spokesman Al Beaupre. "If you're going to play in China, you've got to be there."

He said Milacron's machines are designed globally by its engineers in Germany, the United States and India, where it also has a growing operation.

"This doesn't replace any work done here," he said. "If it's successful, we'll benefit because we'll have a lot more sales."

Milacron doesn't disclose sales in China, but Beaupre said Asian sales in total were about $50 million last year and China represented about a third of that.

He noted the Chinese market is bigger and growing faster than India, where Milacron has had operations for a number of years and employs more than 200.

Jiangyin Mould Plastics makes automobile components and sought a partner that could cut the cost of its processing equipment as it expands, Milacron said.

Milacron, which last month completed a $200 million debt refinancing and Tuesday launched a tender offer for 115 million in Euro bonds due next April, cited improving market conditions Monday in reporting a first-quarter loss of $16.6 million on sales of $189 million.

Shares in Milacron closed at $3.87, down 35 cents.

E-mail mboyer@enquirer.com