APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090018-7
| Company | Main Products | Sales | Number of Employees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volvo AB[1] | Passenger cars, tractors, bus chassis, trucks, and military vehicles. | 1,029.1 | 38,866 |
| SKF (AB Svenska Kullagerfabriken)[1] | Ball and roller bearings, iron and steel castings, and machine tools. | 919.7 | 84,039[2] |
| ASEA (Allmanna Svenska Elektriska AB) | Electrical machinery and equipment | 644.9[2] | 34,714[2] |
| SAAB-Seania AB | Aircraft, motor vehicles, diesel engines, electronic equipment, control instrument, and X-ray and medical equipment. | 852.0[3] | 29,000[3] |
| Kooperativa Forbundet (KF) | Sweden's most important consumer cooperative, engaging in diverse industrial activity, but mainly concerned with wholesale and retail trade. | 438.4 | 18,450[2] |
| Telefon AB L.M. Ericsson | Telecom, electronic, and signal equipment, automatic control devices, and wire. | 618.6 | 53,829[2] |
| Granges AB | Mining, steel, and shipping. | 549.9[2] | 25,000[2] |
| Skanska Cementgjuteriet AB | Building contracting and construction. | 589.0 | 22,300 |
| Svenska Tundsticks AB[1] | Matches, paper and pulp, chemicals, machinery and equipment, and packaging material. | 444.6 | 32,354[2] |
| BPA Byggproduktion AB | Construction | 318.8[2] | 17,116[2] |
| Storn Kopparbergs Berslags AB | Steel, pulp and paper, chemicals, lumber, and machinery and equipment. | 363.7[3] | 14,200[3] |
| Elektrolux AB[1] | Household appliances, motors, and kitchen equipment. | 440.7[3] | 27,770[2] |
| Svenska Cellulosa AB | Wood products, pulp, paper, and chemicals. | 247.7[3] | 12,000[3] |
| Sandviken Jurnverks AB | Steel and machinery and equipment | 177.8[2] | 10,827[2] |
| Alfa-Laval AB | Machinery and equipment | 257.1[2] | 14,615[2] |
| Atlas Copco AB | Pneumatic tools and machinery | 280.6 | 13,760 |
A number of Swedish companies, including several of the major firms identified in Figure 10, have established a high reputation for the quality of their products, which are in demand throughout the world. Also among the internationally prominent firms are AB Bofors (armaments) and Arendal Shipyard (merchant ship construction).
Swedish industry is heavily oriented towards foreign markets, and nearly half of its manufacturing output is exported annually (46% was exported in 1971). Western European countries take three-fourths of Sweden's exports, and most of the major Swedish firms have established subsidiaries in those countries. During the decade of the 1960's, the number of Swedish companies establishing foreign subsidiaries doubled, reaching 1,806 at the end of the decade. One-third of these were established in member countries of the European Communities (EC), in large part to avoid the EC's Common External Tariff.
a. Machinery and equipment
Sweden produces some of the best quality machinery and equipment in the world/ Its output, however, is not large compared to that of countries such as the United States, the U.S.S.R., the United Kingdom, West Germany, and Japan. Power generating machinery, household appliances, agricultural machinery, and communications equipment are the main products consumed domestically; the most important exports are ball and roller bearings, office machinery, telephone apparatus, and dairy equipment.
Production of ball and roller bearings is one of the major branches of the machinery and equipment industry. Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF), Goteborg, is one of the world's foremost producers of bearings. With sales of US$920 million in 1970, SKF is the second-largest Swedish manufacturing enterprise. SKF has manufacturing subsidiaries in nearly 20 countries, including the United States, as well as sales subsidiaries in all principal industrial markets. It supplies the EC countries with a large percentage of their requirements for bearings from plants in West Germany, France, and Italy. Exports of bearings, primarily by SKF, amounted to $69 million, of 5% of Sweden's nonelectrical machinery exports in 1970.
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APPROVED FOR RELEASE: 2009/06/16: CIA-RDP01-00707R000200090018-7
