Qingdao, China - Shandong Linglong Tire Co. is planning to expand its investment in the Thai rubber industry, focusing on a tire-testing centre and rubber-compound manufacturing, according to the Chinese tire-maker.
The decision was announced during a visit by a delegation of Thai ministers to Linglong facilities and follows the recent completion of TBR tire production at the Linglong International Tire Thailand (LLIT).
Linglong, said a company press release on 8 April, plans to carry out the "phase 3 of compound rubber [production] in LLIT".
This is a midstream industry that can consume a large amount of natural rubber, the Thai Industry Minister Atchaka Sibunruang told Thailand’s The Nation newspaper after the meeting. The company's rubber-compound output is for export.
According to Linglong chairman Wang Feng, the Chinese tire-maker follows a “3+3” strategy of development, with three plants in China and three internationally.
Wang explained that the Thai plant would serve as Linglong’s first international plant, adding that “it will continue to study establishing a second and a third overseas manufacturing plant and advance its internationalisation gradually.”
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