Gajah Tunggal to add TBR capacity, test track

ERJ staff report (TB)

Jakarta, Indonesia -- Indonesian tyre maker P.T. Gajah Tunngal Tbk. is committing more than $250 million over two to three years to build a tyre proving grounds and add radial truck/bus tyres to its production capabilities.

Gajah Tunggal - 49.7-percent owned by Singapore-based Chinese tyre maker GITI Tire Pte. Ltd. - spent $108 million earlier this year to acquire 267 acres of land in Karawang, Indonesia, where it plans to build a tyre proving ground and which could be the site for a second tyre plant to complement the firm's manufacturing complex in Tangerang, Java.

Gajah Tunngal did not elaborate on the timing of the new tyre plant. The firm plans to break ground on the proving grounds in the coming months and expects to complete it in two to three years.

The acquisition was financed through internal resources, the company said.

Additionally, management has decided to add radial truck/bus tyres to the firm's portfolio in the coming three years. This will be done in stages with a goal of bulding capacity in the range of 1,500-2,000 tyres per day, the company said.

Gajah Tunggal has budgeted $150 million for this project.

The company's truck tyre line now consists of bias-ply tyres in the GT Super brand.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)