Kalmar to move heavy crane intellectual property to RIC in China

Kalmar and RIC (Rainbow Industries Co. Ltd.) have entered into an agreement. According to the agreement, Kalmar transfers heavy cranes’ related intellectual properties and assets to RIC in China. This agreement would concern Kalmar rubber-tyred gantry cranes (RTG), rail-mounted gantry cranes (RMG), ship-to-shore cranes (STS) as well as automatic stacking cranes (ASC) which are currently assembled and manufactured at RIC’s facility in Taicang, China. RIC has been Cargotec’s Original Equipment Manufacturing (OEM) subcontractor providing assembly services for Cargotec’s business areas Kalmar and MacGregor since 2020 and prior that Cargotec and Rainbow operated through a joint venture in China since 2013.

As part of the agreement, about 40 local Kalmar employees in China are estimated to move, subject to local legal requirements, over to RIC once the contractual obligations have been completed. The planned change is estimated to be concluded in September. The planned change is subject to approval from Chinese authorities.

In the future, Kalmar would focus on offering industry shaping, eco-efficient cargo handling equipment in the mobile equipment product categories, straddle and shuttle carriers, Bromma spreaders and lifecycle services. Further, Kalmar would continue to offer crane automation and crane related services for its customers globally.

According to the preliminary estimate, Cargotec would book restructuring costs totaling EUR 25 million in the second quarter 2022 and EUR 11 million in the third quarter 2022 as a consequence of entering into this planned agreement. The estimated bookings would not impact Cargotec’s outlook for 2022. Cargotec expects its comparable operating profit for 2022 to improve from 2021 (EUR 232 million).

Wu Jian, chairman and president of RIC, said, “We are very pleased to continue to offer the Genma Kalmar cranes to the global customers. The partnership that we have had for years with Kalmar gives us a strong base for delivering the existing and future projects.”

Arto Keskinen, SVP Horizontal at Kalmar, “This will be an important step for Kalmar. We have had a long partnership with RIC and we are pleased that they would be taking over in China and we could secure a smooth transition to our customers. We will stand behind all existing customer commitments including all agreed deliveries, valid quotations and options. We will also continue to support, develop and offer crane automation solutions and crane services for new and existing customers.”