SKF consolidates seal operations in the North American market

    SKF consolidates seal operations in the North American market

SKF USA Inc. has announced a plan for consolidating its Chicago Rawhide
seal plants to improve the company's long-term competitive position. The
plan includes the closure of the Franklin facility in North Carolina and
the outsourcing of the stamping operations from the plant in
Guadalajara, Mexico.

Production from the Franklin plant will be transferred to other Chicago
Rawhide facilities in North America. The plant in Franklin manufactures
standard line seals for various industrial customer segments in North
America.

In CR Mexico the component stamping operations in the manufacturing of
seals will be outsourced to a local manufacturer.

The process for phasing-out is expected to take place over a period of
at least 12 months and some 170 employees in the two plants will be
affected.

The cost of this consolidation will be included in the provisions to be
taken for the fourth quarter, which were announced in the nine-month
report in October this year.

Goteborg, December 11, 2003
Aktiebolaget SKF
(publ.)

For further information, please contact:
PRESS: Lars G Malmer, SKF Group Communication, tel. [phone],
e-mail: [e-mail]
IR: Marita Bjork, SKF Investor Relations, tel. [phone], 
e-mail: [e-mail]

Aktiebolaget SKF, SE-415 50 Goteborg, Sweden, tel. [phone],
fax [phone], www.skf.com