Sumitomo expanding China plant

ERJ staff report (DS)

Changshu, China -- Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) will invest about $135 million through year-end 2010 to increase capacity 20 percent at its 4-year-old tyre plant in Changshu.

The project will increase daily output to 33,500 tyres-30,000 passenger tyres and 3,500 truck/bus tyres-at the factory in Jiangsu Province, the company said.

This is SRI's second expansion at the plant, which opened in 2004. In 2006 it disclosed plans to spend between $89 million and $126 million to quadruple passenger tyre output to its present level of about 25,000 units a day and add capacity for truck tyres.

At the same time, SRI will halve the proportion of output slated for export to 30 percent, in the wake of a change last year in China's preferential export tax rate-to 12 percent from 4 percent-on radial tyres.

The plant operates as Sumitomo Rubber (Changshu) Co. Ltd.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)