Continental: South Africa agricultural tyre plant closed in 2019

Following reports that Continental had sold its South Africa agricultural tyre production assets, company representatives have confirmed that the plant ceased operation a little more than two years ago.

In answer to Tyres & Accessories’ questions, a company spokesperson further confirmed that “In 2019, Continental discontinued the production of its Underground Mining and Agricultural Cross-Ply Tyres at the Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth) plant following a worldwide restructuring of the Commercial Specialty Tyres segment.” Specifically, production ceased at the South Africa manufacturing facility at the end of August 2019.

The spokesperson also reiterated that the production of passenger and light commercial vehicle tyres has not been affected and that Continental continues to manufacture these tyres in Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Furthermore, “Continental continues to serve its earthmoving and agricultural customers with a premium tyre range manufactured in our worldwide CST manufacturing sites.” In practice this means Continental’s agricultural tyre products have all been manufactured at the company’s Lousado, Portugal plant since production ended at the Port Elizabeth site in 2019.