Bridgestone to Build Plant for Mining Tires in Thailand

Bridgestone Corp. announced it would build a new plant in Thailand that will produce off-the-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles (ORRs).

A ceremony was attended by representatives from the industrial estate where the site is located, and also from the company that will build the plant. Bridgestone Group representatives present at the ceremony included Masaaki Tsuya, CEO and representative board member of Bridgestone Corp., and Shigeru Kaneko, managing director of Bridgestone Specialty Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co. Ltd., the company that will operate the new plant.

Bridgestone’s ORRs are used on vehicles in mines, quarries, harbors and construction sites around the world. In the past, the group has produced these tires exclusively in Japan and the United States. By constructing this new plant in Thailand, the company said it will be able to establish an optimal ORR production system that will enable it to respond to growing tire demand, and also to any future changes that might occur in the operating environment.

The new plant is scheduled to begin production in the first half of 2015, and total production capacity is expected to reach approximately 85 tons by the first half of 2019.

Moving forward, the Bridgestone Group said it will continue to develop a global production system necessary to provide customers with the high-quality products they demand, while also responding quickly to changes in market demand.

Last year, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations LLC announced during a press conference at MINExpo in Las Vegas that it will make an additional investment of $27.3 million for a second expansion project at its Bloomington, Ill., off-the-road (OTR) plant.

Bridgestone, www.bridgestoneminingsolutions.com 

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