Bridgestone postpones Thailand plant start as mining slowdown continues

It appears declining demand has prompted Bridgestone to postpone the start of production at its OTR tyre factory in Thailand. Bloomberg reports comments to this effect made by chief executive officer Masaaki Tsuya on 15 June. Tsuya said a new production start date will be announced when demand for mining tyres returns – adding that this may take “some time”.

The official stone laying ceremony for the new Bridgestone Specialty Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd plant took place on 29 April 2013; at the time, Bridgestone stated that the facility was scheduled to begin production in the first half of 2015 and total production capacity was expected to reach approximately 85 tons by the first half of 2019.