Tyre making in the US cheaper than in China, says Carlisle

Going against a trend witnessed in the tyre industry over recent years, Carlisle Companies says it will transfer tyre production from China over to the United States – for cost reasons. At the company’s forth quarter 2011 conference call on 2 February, Carlisle Companies chairman, president and CEO David Roberts reported positive developments regarding efficiency levels at the company’s Jackson, Tennessee tyre making facility and then shared plans to make US production a greater priority.

“The new management team has made significant strides in Jackson,” he stated. “Productivity levels are up to where our other our other tyre manufacturing facilities are, and frankly, we’re at this point starting to plan to bring work back from China and put it in both of our Tennessee plants, both Clinton and Jackson. We found that we can actually manufacture as cheaply or cheaper here in the US than we can in China in our tyre facilities.”

During the quarter, sales at Carlisle Transportation Products, the business unit covering tyres, transmission belts and outdoor power equipment, grew five per cent to US$154.1 million. This was paired with an EBIT loss of $4 million.