Suzhou Yokohama to start 1.7m tire/year expansion project

(Jane Ho, ERJ special correspondent, China)

Jiangsu, China – Suzhou Yokohama Tire Company, a fully-owned subsidiary of Tokyo-headquartered Yokohama Rubber, is conducting environment assessment for its expansion project with an annual capacity of 1.7 million sedan radial tires.

The new project, with $73 million (€57 million) total investment earmarked, will add 260 employees and is scheduled to start a trial run in May 2015, according to the environment assessment report.

Based in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, Suzhou Yokohama was set up in 2006 with $81 million (€63 million) investment. It currently has a 320,000/year capacity for TBR truck tires and a 1m/year capacity for radial tires with 470 employees.

Back in January, ERJ reported that Yokohama Rubber planned to build a new passenger car tire production facility on land adjacent to its existing truck/bus tire plant of its Chinese subsidiary Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co., Ltd., in Jiangsu Province.

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