Conti opens Thai tire production plant

Rayong, Thailand – Continental Corp. has officially started tire manufacture at its greenfield plant in Rayong, the company has announced.

The facility will produce up to 4 million passenger-car and light-truck tires per year for Thailand and the Asia Pacific region by 2022, Continental said 27 March.

The €250-million “state-of-the-art” plant will create 900 new jobs at full capacity, according to the statement.

The facility “is an integral part of Continental Tire Division’s ‘Vision 2025’ growth strategy,” said the outgoing head of Tire Division Nikolai Setzer during the inauguration ceremony.

The unit, he added, improves the balance of Continental’s global manufacturing footprint and strengthens its production capacities for Asia Pacific.

According to the company, the Rayong plant features “best-in-class energy efficiency standards” and machines are equipped with technology for sustainable production processes.

The plant, it added, employs highly-automated logistics and handling processes for “an ergonomic work environment”.

Rayong is the seventh greenfield manufacturing facility which Continental has opened since 1998, expanding the Tire Division’s production footprint to 20 plants.