According to Marangoni, its technologies are utilised for more than 25 per cent of the pre-cure retreading carried out in Europe – and this market share is growing. In order to meet increasing demand, the retreading specialist is increasing its Ringtread production capacity with a new facility.
North America’s agricultural tyre market was valued at over US$930 million last year but is projected to reach $1.3 billion by 2030, Trelleborg Tires tells us. The tyre maker has maintained a production presence in this, the world’s largest agricultural market, since 2015. It has now announced a significant capacity increase at the 40,000 square metre Spartanburg, South Carolina plant.
In 2023, Linglong’s various factories had a production capacity of 91.34 million tyres. Including the production of PCR products at the Serbian factory, in 2025 the tyre manufacturer’s annual production capacity will likely exceed 100 million tyres. Linglong’s tyre production base in Zhaoyuan, Shandong, has an astonishing production capacity of 36.1 million sets, including 30 million PCR, 5.85 million TBR, and 250,000 OTR tyres. The Dezhou base in Shandong has capacity for 9 million PCR and 3.2 million TBR tyres a year. The Guangxi production base can make 11 million PCR (1 million more than the designed capacity), 2 million TBR, and 140,000 OTR annually. The Hubei production base has capacity for the construction of 9 million PCR and 2.4 million TBR tyres. That opeartion’s designed PCR capacity is 12 million, and further under-construction capacity is expected to be completed in 2024. The Jilin production base can make 1.5 million PCR and 1 million TBR tyres. The company said that the capacity of the Jilin factory’s PCR production lines is expected to reach 6 million tyres a year in 2024. The company’s planned two production bases in Shaanxi and Anhui have not yet released their production capacity in 2023. The Thailand factory has 13 million PCR and 2.2 million TBR among overseas factories. Linglong said that its Thailand factory reduced its PCR production capacity by 2 million in 2023. The Serbian factory achieved a production capacity of 800,000 TBR tyres in 2023, and the designed scale of 1.6 million tyres is expected to be completed in 2024.
Recently, Huayi Group announced its 2023 results. Double Coin, which is responsible for the company’s tyre business, reported 2023 revenue of 10.184 billion yuan (approximately £1.1 billion; €1.3 billion), a year-on-year increase of 1.64 per cent per cent. Throughout the year, the company produced 14.509 million tyres and sold 14.874 million tyres, an increase of more than 10 per cent from the previous year.
Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd. has commenced “change negotiations” to adapt its production to meet market demand. The negotiations, which will last for two weeks, relate to approximately 160 employees at the company’s factory in Nokia, Finland.
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. plans to expand production capacity for motorsport tyres at its Mishima facility in Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture. Yokohama Rubber will invest about ¥3.8 billion (£19.4 million) in a new line that will produce 18-inch and larger motorsports tyres, expanding the plant’s capacity for motorsports tyres by 35 per cent.
Michelin recently confirmed plans to end truck tyre production at its Olsztyn factory in Poland and in Shenyang, China, as well as the shutdown of a semi-finished products metal reinforcement operation in Shanghai, China. Parallel to these planned closures, the company intends to invest in passenger car tyre capacities. In addition to expanding car tyre production at its Shanghai plant, Michelin says it will grow passenger car tyre capacities in both Olsztyn and Shenyang.
Nokian Tyres’ Nokia factory in Finland continues its developmental journey, with ongoing enhancements in tyre production processes. Notably, last year witnessed a notable increase in productivity and efficiency alongside a reduction in waste. These strides reflect the factory’s commitment to continuous improvement principles, where incremental changes yield substantial impacts. Safety also remains a core focus area at the factory, with significant strides made over the years despite a slight dip in 2023.
Sailun Group has revised the timetable for expanding production at its factory in Vietnam. Instead of commencing operations by March 2024, the tyre maker now intends to add a further three million semi-steel radials, one million all-steel radials and 50,000 tonnes of off-highway tyres to its annual capacities by March 2025.
Following on from an October 2023 announcement that it will extend annual passenger and light commercial vehicle tyre capacity in Cambodia by 6 million pieces, Sailun Group has approved additional investment in its plant. It will invest a further RMB 773.69 million (£85.05 million) to expand the capacity expansion project from 6 million to 12 million tyres a year. In total, Sailun is investing RMB 2.25 billion (£247.33 million) in its Cart Tire Co. Ltd. project, which will result in a facility capable of making 21 million semi-steel radial tyres a year.
Yokohama will expand the production capacity of Yokohama Tire Philippines, Inc. (YTPI), by 1,800 tyres per day with an investment of 8.4 billion yen (around £45 million). As a result, the annual production capacity for the plant will reach nearly 12 million – YTPI states the daily capacity will be 32,500. The capacity increases will also be joined by an expanded size lineup at the top end of its size range. 21 and 22-inch tyres, sizes associated with performance cars and SUVs, will be added to the 13-20 inch range already produced at YTPI. Established in April 1996, YTPI manufactures Yokohama tyres primarily for export to the global market.
One in every five new vehicles on South African roads runs on Dunlop tyres and the Sumitomo Rubber South Africa production facility in Ladysmith supplies original equipment tyres to Toyota, Nissan, Isuzu, Hino, Tata, Scania and UD Trucks. Backed by parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries, the local subsidiary has announced a “multi-billion rand investment project” to meet demand from OEMs.
On Wednesday, Bridgestone Americas held a groundbreaking ceremony for the expansion of one of its truck and bus tyre plants in the USA. An investment of US$550 million will increase the footprint of the Warren County, Tennessee factory by 850,000 square feet (79,000 square metres) and lift production capacity while adding 380 jobs to the plant’s workforce. Bridgestone will also equip the plant for producing tyres featuring Enliten technology.
The first phase capacity expansion of JK Tyre & Industries’ Banmore plant in Madhya Pradesh, India is now complete. An investment of Rs 3.12 billion (£30.1 million) has lifted capacity for passenger car radials by 31 per cent, to 5.1 million tyres per annum. An additional investment of Rs 6.17 billion (£59.5 million) will increase capacity by an additional 31 per cent by April 2024.
Nokian Tyres has initiated work on its Oradea, Romania passenger car tyre factory, billed as the tyre industry’s first zero CO2 emission plant. An event marking the groundbreaking was attended by the Prime Minister of Romania, Nicolae Ciucă. The President of the Bihor County Council, Ilie Bolojan, and other high-level Romanian and Finnish officials also participated along with the chair of Nokian Tyres’s board of directors Jukka Hienonen. The first tyres are estimated to be produced in the second half of 2024. Commercial tyre production is expected to start in early 2025.
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