Metzke plans East Rockingham manufacturing expansion

Metzke plans a $22 million East Rockingham facility, with operations expected in 2027 and a larger site for drilling-equipment manufacturing in Western Australia.

Metzke plans a $22 million manufacturing facility in East Rockingham, within Western Australia's Western Trade Coast, relocating from Canning Vale after more than 40 years there. The proposed development would more than double its manufacturing footprint.

The project comprises a 20,000-square-metre site, over 2.5 times the existing site, and a 3,500-square-metre warehouse accommodating:

fabrication;
machining;
assembly.

Metzke company logo

Manufacturing plans

Founded by Bruce Metzke in 1978, the reverse-circulation drilling-equipment manufacturer is stewarded by three generations of the Burt family. Its products serve Africa, the Americas, Europe, Asia and Australasia.

Chairman Sheldon Burt envisages potential diversification alongside drilling. Commercial & General Group is the development partner; fund manager Mitch Stone expressed confidence in Western Australia's industrial market. Operations are expected in the second quarter of 2027.

Metzke manufacturing milestones — Founding and expected operations

Western Trade Coast setting

The Western Trade Coast combines established ports, energy networks and a skilled metropolitan workforce. Its industrial precincts include the Kwinana Industrial Area, Rockingham Industry Zone, Australian Marine Complex and Latitude 32. Westport is among its strategic infrastructure projects.

The Australian Marine Complex is one of Australia's two major shipbuilding and sustainment hubs and the future location of the Henderson Defence Precinct. Latitude 32 offers land for further industrial development.

The Western Trade Coast Infrastructure Strategy was released in 2024. By November 2025, the state government's industrial-land programme included $161 million in Strategic Industries Fund support to open land at Latitude 32 and $5 million for upgrades to entry intersections in the Kwinana strategic industrial area.

Further planned work covered road-infrastructure planning, wastewater supply and engineering studies, and electricity-network augmentation aligned with the South West Interconnected System Transmission Plan. An Industry Reference Group chaired by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Western Trade Coast supported coordination across the precinct.