GTR.Cover.qxd:Layout 1 - European Rubber Journal

GLOBAL TYRE REPORT
beyond the capacity the firm had targeted
with an expansion project announced in July.
This latest expansion will add 740 000 ft 2 of
manufacturing space to the 12-year-old
plant, bringing the total under roof to 2.74
million ft 2 .
● Separately, Bridgestone said it is committing
$75 million to expand capacity for OTR-tyregrade
steel cord at its plant in Clarksville. The
project will increase daily output by 10
percent and add 123 077 ft 2 to the plant.
Capacity at the 15-year-old plant is 165
tonnes per day, the tyre maker said.
● $36.6 million through early 2013 in its
Warren County, Tennessee, truck tyre plant
to expand daily capacity 11 percent to 9000
units.
● $460 million (¥35.5 billion) to build a new
greenfield factory for passenger car radial
tyres in Vietnam. Production at the new plant
will begin in the first half of 2014. Plans call
for a production capacity of approximately 24
700 tyres per day after the production rampup
is completed in the first half of 2016. The
company expects to employ 1900 at that
time.
● $255 million through 2014 to expand
capacity for car and light truck tyres at its
Nong Khae, Thailand, tyre plant 37 percent
to 50 000 tyres daily.
● $200 million through early 2014 to expand
daily capacity at its Chonburi, Thailand, truck
tyre plant by more than 30 percent to 10 500
units.
A Bridgestone joint venture, BRISA in Turkey is
currently investing $165 million to improve its
capacity and maintain its equipment. This sum
will be spent in the period from 2010 to 2014.
Taiwan’s Cheng Shin Rubber Co. Ltd/Maxxis
International is building two plants in China—in
Xiamen and Chongqing—each capable of
turning out 30 000 tyres a day by 2012. Cheng
Shin put the investment for the Xiamen plant at
$300 million, but it did not disclose a value for
the Chongqing factory.
Cheng Shin/Maxxis said both new plants—
its fifth and sixth in China—will be based on the
design of its six-year-old Maxxis International
(Thailand) Co. Ltd factory in Thailand’s Rayong
Province.
Both plants will be designed to serve the
needs of the company’s export and domestic
markets, including OE requirements.
Czech tyre and rubber products maker CGS
a.s. Holding is building agricultural tyre plants in
Charles City, Iowa, and Holesov, Czech
Republic, budgeting $67 million and $52
million, respectively, for the units.
The plant in Charles City—which will be
operated by CGS’ Mitas Tires North America
Inc. (formerly CGS Tires U.S. Inc.) unit—should
start producing in early 2012, while the one on
Holesov should hit full production by 2014.
Bridgestone’s plant in Tianjin is part of a global expansion programme
Continental disclosed three major projects:
● $320 million for a car and light truck tyre
plant in Kaluga, Russia. The 4 million tyreper-year
plant should be on stream by yearend
2013.
● $210 million for the second-phase expansion
of its car and truck tyre plant in Camaçari,
Brazil, effectively doubling the size of the
plant by 2015 to about 9 million car and
700 000 truck tyres. The expanded output
will serve both NAFTA and Latin America.
● $224 million to add 4 million units of annual
passenger and light truck tyre capacity at its
Mount Vernon, Illinois, tyre plant by 2014.
The project will create up to 444 new jobs at
the plant.
● $25 million to acquire India’s Modi Tyres Co.
Pvt. Ltd., a Conti technical licensee for the
past 37 years, and $71 million more to add
capacity for radials—900 000 passenger and
230 000 truck/bus tyres annually by the
second half of 2013—and double capacity
for cross-ply truck tyres at Modi’s plant in
Modipuram.
● More than $500 million over 10 years to
build a passenger and light truck tyre plant
near Sumter, South Carolina. The first phase
of production capacity at the Sumter factory
is expected to be nearly 5 million passenger
and light truck tyres by the time the plant
reaches full production levels in 2017.
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. spent $116.5 million
to buy the 50-percent stake in the Cooper
Kenda Tire Manufacturing (Kunshan) Co. Ltd
joint venture in China owned by Taiwan’s Kenda
Rubber Mfg. Co. Ltd and roughly $22 million to
raise its stake in its Mexican manufacturing
venture Corporacion de Occidente S.A. de C.V.
to 58 percent from 38 percent and doubling the
share in a distribution company to nearly 100
percent.
China’s Double Coin Holdings Ltd. is building a
$475 million passenger/light truck tyre plant in
Anhui Province designed to produce 15 million
tyres a year at full capacity. Group Michelin
since has agreed to become a joint venture
partner in the plant, but it hasn’t disclosed any
additional funding.
Goodyear has budgeted $1 billion to upgrade
production at three plants, primarily to convert
them to higher value-added (HVA) tyres,
including:
● $500 million over five years to modernise its
33-year-old Santiago, Chile, factory and
convert 7 million units of annual capacity to
HVA capacity. The plant is rated at 17 000
units a day with 500 employees.
● $200 million over two years to convert 2
million units of annual capacity at the firm’s
Americana, Brazil, plant to HVA output. That
plant is rated at 35 000 units a day with 2000
workers.
● $100 million through 2013 to convert 2
million units of annual consumer tyre
capacity at its Pneumant Reifen & Gummi
Werke GmbH subsidiary’s factory in Riesa,
Germany, to HVA output. The plant is rated at
12 000 units a day.
● Additionally, Goodyear has begun trial
production of passenger tyres at its new
Pulandian factory in Dalian, China—the
company’s first step toward replacing its
existing factory in Dalian and doubling annual
car tyre capacity in China to more than 10
million units by 2015. The project is valued at
$700 million over five years, about $200
million higher than previous disclosures.
Hankook’s $1.44 billion in investments are for
three key projects:
● $353 million through 2014 for a car and truck
tyre plant near Bekasi, Indonesia. At full
capacity the plant will produce 6 million tyres
a year, half of which will be exported to North
America, Hankook said.
● $954 million through year-end 2015 for a car
and truck tyre plant in Liang Jiang Xin Qu,
near Chongquing, China, capable of making
11.5 million car and medium truck/bus tyres
annually.
● $131 million through 2013 for a research and
development centre in Daejeon, South
Korea, as part of a plan to expand and
update its R&D capabilities.
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E U R O P E A N R U B B E R J O U R N A L NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011