Bridgestone details spending with aircraft, mining expansion plans

Bridgestone has followed up its September “major strategic investment” announcement, detailing the $1.2 billion it will spend on OTR production facilities in North Carolina, with more details that suggest record spending levels to meet rising demand in emerging markets. The corporation released its Mid-term Management Plan 2011, covering the period 2012-2016 in which it set a target of a 6 per cent return on assets next year. The plan detailed “measures for expanding sales of strategic tyre products and improving its sales mix, maximizing operational rationalization, and thoroughly streamlining company assets.”

Bridgestone’s report detailed several post-2012 initiatives for further improvements, including an “expansion of strategic tyre products and operations”. In addition to reinforcement, the company plans to optimise “tyre performance and costs, starting with raw materials”, while expanding in emerging markets such as China and India, and improving income in more mature markets. It also mentions the enhancement of its environmental activities and environmentally friendly products, including a “clarification of the direction of Bridgestone’s environmental aspirations targeting “nature, recycling and… low carbon usage.” Bridgestone also plans to enhance its line-up of its Ecopia fuel-efficient brand.

Chief financial officer Akihiro Eto told Bloomberg today (21 October) that it would build a US facility and increase capacity in China for aircraft tyres. Reuters has also reported that the corporation plans to spend $16.3 billion between 2012-16 in building a mining and construction tyre plant.

Eto, discussing Bridgestone’s business plans up to 2016 in Tokyo, is quoted by Bloomberg as saying: “In emerging markets right now, demand is topping supply. We plan to expand our capacity to meet demand as soon as possible.” The financial news source also reports that Eto suggested that sales of fuel-efficient tyres in emerging markets will grow by more than 10 per cent in the period, making up nearly a third of its worldwide sales in the segment.

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• Bridgestone names US OTR plant project leader