Fenner executive director David Landgren said the new plant was the largest single investment in conveyor belt manufacturing ever made in Australia.

“We could have built this facility in China or India,” he said. “Others have done that.

“But our decision to manufacture in Australia was based on our commitment to quality and the total cost of the belts to our customers.”

Fenner says the new plant will have the capacity to build the biggest and best-quality steel cord belting and will also have the best rubber calendaring and steel cable tensioning equipment available anywhere in the world.

“The plant will produce steel cord belt and rubber ply belt up to 3200 millimetres wide,” Fenner said.

“It will have an initial annual capacity of 330,000 square metres, equating to about 103 kilometres of 3200 millimetre-wide belt, and will include the most modern technical testing facility south of the equator.”

He added the company was recruiting and, in particular, looking to fill sales and field vacancies for installation and maintenance, mainly in WA.

The new Kwinana facility will be Fenner’s fourth steel cord plant and 15th conveyor manufacturing plant.