Yanchang Rubber completes €130m tire plant

Jane Ho, ERJ China correspondent

Shaanxi, China - Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Northwest Rubber has recently finished construction of its 8 million/year steel-belted radial tire facilities.

The new facilities are located in Xianyang, Shaanxi province and represents a 1 billion Yuan (€130 million) investment. This is part of a first-phase project which also includes a 2 million/year TBR tire line that went into operation in 2010.

The whole project, with 4.9 billion Yuan (€637 million) total investment earmarked, is expected to have a 4 million/year TBR tire capacity and a 16 million/year steel-belted radial tire capacity when completed.

This claims to be the first steel-belted radial tire project in the province and also the largest tire project in northwest China.

Yangchang Rubber is a state-owned company set up in 2008 in Xianyang, Shaanxi province. It currently has 1,800 employees and delivered Yuan2 billion (€260 million) sales in 2013.

It expects to produce 600,000 steel-belted tires within the year, all of which are planned for export to North America, Europe and other oversea markets, according to the company.

"Chinese tires are often perceived as low-quality in oversea markets, but most of them have great performances," said Dong Maohua, vice president of Yanchang Rubber and chief engineer of its steel-belted tire department.

"Such false impression is caused by the price battle among Chinese tire makers and their lack of effective branding strategies," Dong added.