Yokohama Preparing for Stage 4 Expansion of Onomichi OTR Factory

The fourth stage in the planned expansion of Yokohama Rubber’s Onomichi OTR tyre plant has been announced. The factory, in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture, has undergone expansion work since the 2007 financial year, and this latest 6 billion yen (£29.9 million) work will see monthly production capacity grow by 600 tons to a total of 2,500 tons in the financial year ending March 31, 2011, four times that of the 2007 financial year. The company reports it will reach this level earlier than the previously stated date of the 2012 financial year as strong demand for OTR tyres continues – Yokohama states a belief that demand will increase for at least another ten years.