Doubts have surrounded the future of Balkrishna Industries (BKT)’s plans to establish a factory in the USA for the past two and a half years, and now the company has officially ended the project. This decision was agreed upon during a board meeting on Monday.
Sri Lankan newspaper Daily FT reports that Chinese tyre maker Shandong Haohua Tire Co. Ltd. intends to build a factory in the country and produce both car and truck tyres there for export markets. The plant will be located on a 121 acre (49 hectare) site near the major port of Hambantota. Haohua Tire anticipates exporting its first tyres from the plant within three years.
Speciality tyre manufacturer Maxam Tire has opened a new advanced and automated solid tyre production facility. It said the new facility represents “a major commitment to the speciality solid tyre segment.” Maxam added that the plant is “strategically aligned to better serve today’s market demands through compound advancement and automated technology.” Sources within the Sailun Group told Tyres & Accessories that the factory is located in Vietnam.
After several months of test production, Nokian Tyres’ new factory in the USA has begun making tyres destined for retail sale. Now that the tyre maker has reached this milestone on schedule, it will steadily increase volume throughout the year and will continue growing it until reaching an annual capacity of four million tyres by 2023.
Commercial production at Ceat Ltd.’s new production facility near Chennai, India began yesterday, reports the tyre maker. Ceat says production capacity at the plant in Sriperumbudur Taluka will now be “ramped up progressively in a phased manner” up to a daily capacity of 28,500 car tyres and 2,500 motorcycle tyres.
A ceremony was held on 11 January to officially inaugurate car tyre production at the Hubei Linglong Tire Co., Ltd. facility in Jingmen, China. The event was held in the same location where TBR tyre production was commissioned in December and was attended by nearly 600 guests.
Linglong Tire has begun making car tyres at its newest factory in China. These first Linglong Crosswind 4×4 HP tyres from the Hubei Linglong Tire Co. Ltd. car tyre plant in Jingmen were produced on 30 December, five weeks after the production of truck and bus radial tyres commenced. Company employees and local dignitaries were on hand to witness the occasion.
Several weeks after entering operation, TBR production at the Hubei Linglong Tire Co., Ltd. factory in Jingmen, China was officially commissioned yesterday. Linglong Tire reports that nearly 600 guests, including government and industry representatives, attended a ceremony to mark the occasion.
A ceremony was held yesterday to mark the official opening of Bridgestone’s new OTR tyre factory in Thailand, marking the conclusion of a long and at times less than certain construction and preparation programme. The ceremony was attended by Bridgestone Group executives as well as members of the Board of Investment, Thailand, Rayong Province, and Japanese Embassy.
The tyre plant that Prinx Chengshan is building in Thailand is expected to enter operation next year, and the tyre maker reports that it will extensively use intelligent manufacturing systems to achieve greatly enhanced efficiencies. It says production efficiency will be increased by 20 per cent in the new plant. The production cycle itself will be shortened by 20 per cent, work efficiency increased by 40 per cent and raw material wastage reduced by 80 per cent.
Just over two years after groundbreaking, Nokian Tyres officially opened its new North American production facility. A ceremony was held at the Dayton, Tennessee plant on 2 October to mark the start of operations. The facility is currently engaged in trial production and is expected to be ready to make tyres for commercial use in early 2020.
Prinx Chengshan reports that “steady progress” is being made at its new tyre factory in Thailand. Construction work commenced on 31 March and the purchase of key equipment by invitation to tender has now been completed. The company estimates that all steel production workshops, mixing workshops, and supporting public works will be completed by the end of this year. Production at the site should commence in 2020.
Kenta Kuribayashi has been named president of Toyo Tire Corporation’s tyre production subsidiary in Europe, effective 1 September. He has taken on this role in addition to serving as president of Toyo Tire Europe GmbH and as chairman and chief executive officer of Toyo Tire RUS LLC.
An official opening ceremony is being held today for Nexen Tire’s new tyre factory in Žatec, Czech Republic. Numerous dignitaries have attended the event, including Petr Očko, the country’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Travis Kang, Nexen Tire’s global chief executive officer, and Byung-Joong Kang, the company’s chairman.
The likelihood of seeing BKT tyres ‘Made in the USA’ appears even more uncertain following an earnings call held by Balkrishna Industries Ltd. (BKT) on 13 August. Although the tyre maker reported three days earlier that the 20,000 tonne per annum factory project was just “in abeyance”, comments made during the call suggest the pause on work is more than temporary.
Maxam
Linglong