Bridgestone to build pcr plant in Russia

Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone concluded an investment contract with Mitsubishi Corporation, the Ulyanovsk Oblast government and the Ulyanovsk Region Development Corporation on 12 April. Under the agreement, Bridgestone and Mitsubishi will respectively hold 90 and 10 per cent equity ownership in a new tyre manufacturing company, Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing C.I.S. LLC (BMCIS).

The Russia/CIS market incorporates around 300 million people and new vehicle sales have grown significantly in the region. Demand for tyres is also projected to increase, and Bridgestone reports that its plans for the new passenger car tyre factory in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia are intended to meet this growing demand with local production in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia. 

Both companies’ total investment in the project to build Bridgestone’s first tyre plant in the Russia/CIS region will amount to approximately 37.5 billion yen (£248.2 million). Production at the plant, which will be located around 560 miles (900km) southeast of Moscow in the Zavolzhye Industrial Zone, is scheduled to begin in the first half of 2016 and will primarily focus on winter tyres for the local market. Plant capacity is projected to reach around 12,000 tyres a day by the second half of 2018.

Alongside the establishment of a tyre manufacturing company, Mitsubishi Corporation will take a 20 per cent equity position in Bridgestone C.I.S. LLC (BSCIS), Bridgestone’s Moscow-based sales company. As a result, BSCIS will have a capital of 600.6 million roubles (£12.6 million). Bridgestone established BSCIS in 1998 and will retain an 80 per cent equity holding following Mitsubishi’s investment.