Yokohama to Manufacture Radial Truck and Bus Tyres in China

The Yokohama Rubber Co, Ltd, has announced that it established Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co., Ltd. earlier this month in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China. Yokohama Rubber (China) Co., Ltd (established in November 2005) will be the controlling company. Beginning October 2007, the new company will manufacture and sell steel radial truck and bus (TB) tyres. The company invested US$81 million in the facility and expects to produces 350,000 tyres. Up till now Yokohama has exported Japanese produced replacement tyres into the Chinese market.

According to Yokohama, “construction of the new plant…[will] proactively respond to the expected future strong growth of the Chinese market.” The truck and bus plant is seen as phase one of a larger plant and the company says it plans to expand the plant “following the future trend in local demand.” With this plan in mind, the company secured a site area that is more than four times larger than that for the phase one plot.

Yokohama says it will employ small-scale processing methods that require relatively small investment. This way the company hopes to reduce the time taken to construct an operational facility. The plant will also introduce “Low Temperature and High Torque Mixing” a new mixing method making it possible to achieve massive improvement in tyre durability and wear resistance.

The new plant will be Yokohama’s fourth truck and bus tyre factory – it has similar plant in Japan, the US and Thailand.

At the same time as publishing its plans to build a new factory in China, Yokohama celebrated the opening of its existing Chinese operations. Representatives of Yokohama Rubber (China) Co., Ltd. and Yokohama Tire Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., held a joint opening ceremony on 12 April at Sheraton Grand Taipingyang Hotel in Shanghai. Approximately 90 guests including those from the Chinese government, customer-dealers and local banks as well as approximately 80 people from Yokohama Rubber group companies in China including controlling company chairman Takashi Sugimoto and sales company chairman Ichiro Kondo and Yokohama Rubber chairman Yasuo Tominaga attended.

Commenting at the time, Mr Tominaga said: “Under the umbrella of the controlling company, we will promote the successful development of all Yokohama group operations in China and enhance sales capability created through the establishment of the tire sales company.”

Capitalized at US$30 million, Yokohama Rubber (China) Co., Ltd. is a holding company established November last year in Shanghai City with 100 per cent investment by Yokohama Rubber for the purpose of expanding its operations in China. The new company has already made investment into Yokohama Tire Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., Shagdong Yokohama Rubber Industrial Products Co., Ltd. and Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co., Ltd. and will throw its mantle over existing and future subsidiaries in China. cja

On the other hand, Yokohama Tire Sales (Shanghai) Co., Ltd is a tyre sales subsidiary established January this year in Shanghai as a joint-venture company between Yokohama Rubber (China) Co., Ltd. and YHI Corporation (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. with their shares being 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively, in US$3 million capital of the new company. It plans to increase sales in the rapidly-growing tyre market in China by strengthening cooperation between manufacturing and sales operations and strategic sales capabilities.