The original equipment manufacturer said HVS would be one of its largest manufacturing, assembly and repair centres in the world and would be located on a 16-hectare greenfield site at Heatherbrae, just north of Newcastle.

Sandvik Region Australia-Pacific managing director Rowan Melrose said the new centre would combine a number of the company’s existing Australian-based businesses, serving domestic and global markets, into a single site.

“An important element of the Supersite is to bring all our acquired operations into a single business under the Sandvik banner, so that they are less seen as a collection of separate businesses,” Melrose said.

“This new centre will help Sandvik achieve two key outcomes: consolidate the rebranding of our various acquisitions under the Sandvik name, and continue unifying our business segments.”

The Supersite is going ahead despite the Swedish company’s recent wave of cost cutting and planned site closures around the world, with construction planned to be completed in late 2010.

“This new centre is a major boost for our region and where it’s going,” Melrose said.

“Despite the financial shocks of the past few months, we are very positive about the longer term.”