JK Tyre Capacity – and Prices – to Increase

Prices for JK Tyre and Industries products will increase by up to five per cent in the New Year as the tyre maker seeks to offset climbing raw material costs. India’s The Economic Times reports company vice chairman and managing director Raghupati Singhania as disclosing during the JK Tyre-organised Indian Car and Motorcycle of the Year awards that “we will increase tyre prices by four to five per cent from January to offset surging raw materials costs, especially natural rubber. Singhania added that the price increase applies to both passenger car radial and truck tyres and JK Tyre may implement further price rises should rubber prices continue to increase.

Other reported JK Tyre news includes plans to double commercial vehicle radial capacity to 1.6 million tyres per annum by the middle of the next fiscal year and increase passenger car radial capacity by a million units. “Our passenger car radial tyre capacity will go up to 5.5 million a year from the present 4.5 million by December 2011,” Singhania commented. The company is investing Rs 15 billion (£207.7 million) in a new facility in Chennai, Tamil Nadu state; this is expected to enter production by the third quarter of 2011.