Daikin plans AC factory near Tokyo
2nd August 2023
JAPAN: Daikin is to build a new JPY20 billion (US$140m) residential air conditioning factory near Tokyo to satisfy home demand.
The new plant to be built in Tsukubamirai City, Ibaraki Prefecture, around 40km from Tokyo, will be Daikin’s first production base for air conditioners in the Kanto region.
Daikin has around 90 factories around the world but, in Japan, production is concentrated in the Kansai region, centred in Osaka, with plants in Sakai, Yodogawa (Settsu City) and Shiga (Kusatsu City). By decentralising its production bases, Daikin says it will reduce product supply being interrupted in the event of a sudden event that might affects factory operations, such as a natural disaster.
The company insists that the purpose of the construction of the new 98,000㎡ plant is to strengthen domestic production and not to return production to Japan. In addition to its proximity to Tokyo, Ibaraki Prefecture is the only one of the three northern Kanto regions to have a port and an airport.
Production of room air conditioners at the site is planned to begin in 2027-2028.
