Retreading Plant to be Completed Early

Polyurethane elastomer tyre technology company Amerityre Corporation has reported that its Chinese licensee, Qingdao Qizhou Rubber Company, LTD. estimates it is approximately two months ahead of schedule in the construction of its OTR polyurethane elastomer retread facility in Shandong Province. The construction project, commenced in September 2006, was originally anticipated to be completed in September 2007.

Qingdao has signed an initial license agreement to manufacture polyurethane elastomer retreads using Amerityre’s retreading process. This technology will be applied to three large sizes of tyres used in mining operations The retread facility will have an estimated maximum production capacity of approximately 10,000 units and will use between 7.7 million and 16.5 million pounds of polyurethane elastomer tread material, depending on the production mix.

Amerityre is providing Qingdao assistance with the design and purchase of the necessary manufacturing equipment as well as supplying engineering and technical support to Qingdao to ensure they are able to build and operate a facility consistent with Amerityre’s manufacturing processes. The company will be the exclusive supplier of polyurethane chemical materials to Qingdao for the manufacture of products specified by the license agreements.

“We are pleased with the progress that Qingdao Qizhou Rubber has made on the construction of the facility,” commented Amerityre COO Gary Benninger, upon returning from a recent site visit. He added that Qingdao Qizhou’s “Mr. Zhang is extremely committed to bringing the plant into production as soon as possible. In addition, he’s very excited by the potential for an expansion of the terms of the agreement between our companies.”

Qingdao has also expressed interest in discussing a further expansion of its license agreement with Amerityre to include complete pneumatic tyre manufacturing using the company’s patented manufacturing technology and proprietary chemical formulations.