Bridgestone opens tyre retread materials plant in Thailand

Tokyo - Bridgestone Bandag Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corp, officially opened its newest manufacturing plant on 28 Oct. Located in Chonburi Province, Thailand, about 60 km southeast of Bangkok, the plant will produce precure tread, a key component in the tyre retreading process.

The plant represents an investment of ¥4.4 billion (Euro 39 million) and will employ about 100 people when fully in operation. It occupies a total area of 43,600 square metres and will supply precure tread to the growing retread markets in Japan, Asia, and China, and production capacity estimates for the plant are 30 tonnes per day by the end of 2013, according to a statement issued by Bridgestone.

The plant is the first precure tread facility that Bridgestone has built since acquiring the US-based tyre-retread operating company, Bandag, Inc, in 2007, the Japanese firm added.

Bridgestone is actively developing a solutions business globally that includes the use of both new and retread tyres, the statement added.

More than 60 representatives from the public and the private sectors attended the opening ceremony, including Dr. Atchaka Sibunruang, secretary general of the Thailand Board of Investment; representatives from the Bridgestone Group included Bridgestone CEO and president Shoshi Arakawa, and BBMT President Masao Kobayashi.

“I am very happy to be here to celebrate this opening ceremony in Thailand, an important base for Bridgestone's global operations,” said Shoshi Arakawa as he opened the ceremony. “I would like to express my sincere gratitude to everyone involved, especially the government representatives here today.”

As the global retread market develops, Bridgestone says it will continue to analyse market trends in order to implement strategic investments that meet the solution-based needs of our customers.

Retreading enables customers to get the full value of a new tyre by reusing the tyre's casing again and again. After the original tread is worn away, any remaining tread rubber is buffed away and a new precure tread is applied. Precure tread stock is applied to the buffed casing and vulcanized through a process of heat and enveloping pressure.