Caterpillar said this week it plans to open a new manufacturing facility in Thailand, breaking ground on the new factory in the coming months. The facility will produce a full range of underground mining articulated trucks and loaders, used by Caterpillar customers around the world in hard-rock underground mining applications.

Caterpillar said it hopes to begin production in the new plant in late 2012.

“We are pleased to announce our first manufacturing facility in Thailand, which will increase our capacity for our existing range of underground mining machinery, particularly as we sharpen our focus on meeting long-term customer demand in growth markets,” said Chris Curfman, president of Caterpillar Global Mining.

The 645,000-square-foot factory will be located in Rayong province, and is expected to employ about 800 people.

“The ongoing infrastructure development plans for the world’s growth markets combined with a long-term trend towards urbanization and growing wealth in emerging economies should continue to help drive long-term demand for commodities,” said Steve Wunning, Caterpillar group president, resource industries.