This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 19, 2016.

KUALA LUMPUR: UMW Holdings Bhd has earmarked 12ha of land in Serendah, Selangor, for a proposed plant to produce fan cases for Rolls-Royce Holdings plc’s jet engines.

UMW Holdings president and group chief executive officer Badrul Feisal Abdul Rahim said the plant for its wholly-owned subsidiary UMW Aerospace Sdn Bhd is expected to receive its first order in October 2017.

“Earthworks on the site are progressing as planned and UMW Holdings is currently on course to deliver its first unit of Trent 1000 fan case aero engines to Rolls-Royce’s assembly facility in Seletar Aerospace Park, Singapore, upon receipt of the first purchase order targeted for October 2017,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“Despite the current unfavourable economic conditions, we are positioning ourselves into the field of high-value manufacturing.

“We believe that the fan case project will enable UMW to strengthen its engineering capabilities and establish a strong platform for delivering future value creation for the group,” he added.

UMW Aerospace signed a 25-year agreement with Rolls-Royce in August last year to manufacture and assemble fan cases for Rolls-Royce’s Trent 1000 and Trent 7000 aero engines.

The deal came with a five-year extension option.