An official groundbreaking ceremony was held yesterday for the new Continental tyre factory in the USA. The ceremony, attended by federal, state and local governmental officials, marked the beginning of the construction process, which is expected to be completed in 2019.
Examation, a new tyre manufacturing system from Bridgestone Corporation that combines technologies from the company’s BIRD production system with artificial intelligence, will be introduced into Bridgestone’s Tatabánya car tyre factory in Hungary this year. Following the system’s set-up in Hungary, Bridgestone will then introduce Examation in its new plant in Ulyanovsk Oblast, Russia, which is expected to commence production in the final quarter of 2016.
Ground was broken and the first stone set in place for the new Michelin plant in Mexico at a ceremony held yesterday and attended by government dignitaries, key customers and company management. Construction of the plant in León – Michelin’s 69th factory globally and 21st in North America – is expected to begin immediately, with completion currently scheduled for late 2018.
Apollo Tyres’ Enschede plant in the Netherlands has a 200 tonne per day capacity and currently operates at more than 90 per cent capacity utilisation, and to supplement output within the region the tyre maker is currently erecting a brand new factory in Hungary. During a conference call last week, Gaurav Kumar, chief financial officer at Apollo Tyres Ltd., confirmed that the company has planned a capital expenditure of €200 million for the project during the current financial year (1 April 2016 to 31 March 2017).
When Tyrepress.com visited Qingdao Sentury Tire Co., Ltd in China late last year, newly-appointed executive vice-president Rami Helminen shared details about the US factory project he’d been hired to head. He disclosed that “hundreds of millions of US dollars” would be invested in a factory, and that a search for a suitable site was already underway. It appears the tyre maker has decided upon a location in the state of Tennessee.
Continental’s interest in setting up a tyre factory in Thailand has been the subject of rumour for years, and once again the topic is on the table. Bangkok-based newspaper The Nation shares that Sirivan Koo-Amphorn, general manager of Continental Tyres Thailand, is meeting with government representatives this week to discuss incentives and other support that may persuade Continental to select Thailand ahead of rivals such as China. A decision on the location of Continental’s new factory is expected to be taken by the end of this year.
In order to furnish the Brazilian market with a steady supply of locally-made products, Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is investing 312 million real (£73.0 million) to add a truck and bus tyre manufacturing capability to its site in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná state. The investment will cover the cost of erecting a new premises adjacent to the existing passenger car and truck tyre manufacturing facility as well as new production equipment. A March 2019 start to truck and bus tyre manufacture is scheduled, and the initial capacity will be 500 tyres per day.
Kumho Tire has held a ceremony to mark the opening of its new factory in the USA. The facility in Macon County, Georgia, enters operation with the capacity to produce up to four million tyres a year, and will later be expanded to a capacity of up to ten million tyres per annum.
Pirelli has announced a US$200 million investment in Mexico to establish a second factory near its existing passenger car tyre plant in Silao, Guanajuato state. The project to build the facility was announced during yesterday’s visit by Italian Prime Minster, Matteo Renzi, to Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, where he met with President of Mexico, Pena Nieto.
With its new solid tyre plant in Vietnam’s Bình Dương Province, Camso says it aims to “gain leadership position in the Asian material handling market.” The off-road tyre and track specialist completed the 23,000 square metre plant in the town of Tân Uyên within 14 months and views the site as “an ideal location” for further diversifying Camso’s manufacturing operations and improving the company’s competitiveness. The manufacturer adds that the plant is equipped with “best-in-class manufacturing technology.”
At present, all Dmack tyres are manufactured in China. However if news published today by the News&Star is correct, Dmack production may begin in the UK within the next two years. The publication writes that “plans have been unveiled for a £200 million factory in Carlisle.” Tyrepress.com has reached out to Dmack for further details about this project and will publish them when they become available.
The US state of Mississippi has approved an incentive package for a US$1.45 billion tyre factory that Continental intends to build in the state. The incentives approved by the Mississippi State Legislature include providing loans of $263 million and various tax breaks. Mississippi will also assist with site acquisition and preparation work, and help with the cost of building the facility.
Alliance Tire Group, or ATG, calls itself the industry’s fastest-growing manufacturer of off-highway tyres. To support this expansion the company recently opened a new factory in Dahej, India. The tyre maker says the state-of-the-art 122,000 square metre plant utilises the latest manufacturing technologies and is currently able to produce 90 tonnes per day or 33,000 tonnes of tyres per annum, with capacity expected to rise to 57,000 tonnes a year by the end of 2016.
The northwest region of India’s Gujarat state is home to large areas of desert where you may encounter thorny shrubs, packs of wild animals – and a state-of-the-art US$500 million tyre factory. On a 312 acre site, Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) has erected one of the largest off-road tyre plants in the world, a facility capable of producing 325 tonnes of tyres per day. Tyres & Accessories visited in early December.
The Sailun Jinyu Group has informed the Shanghai Stock Exchange about plans for its wholly-owned Vietnamese subsidiary, Sailun (Vietnam) Co., Ltd, to invest up to US$200 million in all-steel belted tyre and off-highway tyre production. At a meeting held on 8 December, the Sailun Jinyu Board of Directors unanimously approved the project.
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