Further capacity for Bridgestone’s Vietnam plant

Although Bridgestone’s new passenger car radial factory in Vietnam has yet to enter operation, the tyre maker has announced the plant’s first capacity increase. Following its expected start of operations in March 2014, Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Vietnam Limited Liability Company originally planned for the factory in Hai Phong City to reach a capacity of 25,000 tyres a day by the first half of 2016; an additional 17.9 billion yen (£113.9 million) will now be invested to further raise capacity to 49,000 tyres a day by the second half of 2017, elevating total investment in the plant to 41.6 billion yen (£264.8 million). This further growth will see the plant’s workforce expand from approximately 1,900 employees in the first half of 2016 to around 3,800 some 18 months later.

The production increase is intended to meet ongoing global growth in demand for tyres. The Hai Phong City factory will principally serve as an export base for shipping general purpose tyres to Europe, North America and Japan.