Singapore-based furniture and leather company HTL International Holdings Ltd is to invest SG$24.2 million ($13.25 million) in China, divided between a new installation and an expansion of an existing facility.

The company’s leather finishing plant in Kunshan is to be expanded at a cost of SG$4.8 million while another proposed plant in the area will now be built in Yangzhou at an estimated cost of SG19.4 million. The company said that the decision to build in Yangzhou rather than Kunshan reflected lower costs and the possibility of processing raw hides to crust to integrate operations.

A subsidiary called Trends Leather (Yangzhou) Co. has been set up to manage the new facility which will produce commercial grade leather while operations in Singapore continue to concentrate on higher quality leather.