Conti starts construction of tire plant in Thailand

Hanover, Germany – Continental AG has officially started construction on a €250-million greenfield tire production plant in Rayong, Thailand, the company announced 22 Nov.

Describing it as a “long term” commitment, Conti said that in the first phase of the project, it is planning to manufacture 4 million passenger and light truck tires (PLT) per year by 2020.

The start of operation is planned for 2019 and the company expects to create 900 jobs in Thailand through the venture.

The facility is Conti’s fifth greenfield project since 1999, and will expand the German company’s total global production footprint to 21 tire plants in 17 countries.

The site sits on a land area of 750,000 sq.m, potentially allowing for capacity at the site to be expanded up to 25 million tires per year.

According to Conti, the plant will be fitted with “state-of-the-art technology”, and will be the company’s “most environmentally friendly plant.”

At a project-launch ceremony , Cameron Wilson, VP marketing & sales passenger and light truck tires ASEAN, said the plant was in line with Conti’s Vision 2025 strategy which aims to expand and balance manufacturing to “best serve customers worldwide.”

“One important pillar of our long-term strategy is to operate with an agile and flexible set-up that enables us to react quickly to the market requirements,” Wilson said.

“Consequently, we are continuing to increase our investment in [the Asian] market by expanding not only our sales and marketing operations in Bangkok but also the number of Continental branded retail shops,” he added.

In September, Conti appointed Thai Takenaka International Ltd as general contractor for the project. Temporary offices and a workers´ village are currently being erected at the site.

According to project leader Vignesh Devasenapathy, the construction of the site is going as planned and the company expects to finalise its “hot preparation and mixing areas by end of March 2018.”

Final completion of construction works will be in the end of 2018.

Conti expects to initiate an “extensive” hiring period in early 2018 and focus on training new employees in other “sister plants” for the production facility.