Linglong rolls off first tires at Serbian factory

Shanghai, China – Shandong Linglong Tire Co has progressed its Serbian greenfield tire manufacturing plant with the production of first tires at the facility.

In its first-half financial report submitted to the Shanghai Stock Exchange 26 Aug, the tire maker said the installation and commissioning of the vulcaniser at the facility in Zrenjanin was completed in June.

“The first tires were rolled off the production line, which is a strategic step for the company in terms of matching products with the European market,” it added.

The Chinese tire maker announced plans to build the €863-million production plant in northern Serbia in 2018.

The facility is slated to produce 13.62 million radial tires per year: 12 million units of passenger car tires, 1.6 million units of truck and bus tires as well as 20,000 off-the-road tires. 

In its financial report, Linglong said the latest progress at the plant would “reserve momentum” for long-term development.

The unit, it went on to say, is a “world-class smart factory” featuring advanced manufacturing equipment and industrial cloud capabilities.

These, Linglong explained, include technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, blockchain, and 5G, used to integrate tire design, production, management, logistics, marketing and other aspects.

Construction work in Serbia, Linglong went on to add, was carried out “in an orderly manner”, adding that the company “strictly complied with the relevant laws of Serbia on the environment.”

In addition to the progress at the Serbian factory, Linglong also reported that it “steadily advanced” several other projects currently under construction.

These included ramping up of its fifth Chinese production facility in Changchun, Jilin, the first phase of which was inaugurated in December last year.

The unit was originally planned to have a total annual capacity for 1.2 million passenger car tires and 200,000 truck and bus tires by 2025.

Linglong said it has now applied for an expansion project at the site to produce 140,000 units of off-highway tires at the facility.

Furthermore, Linglong said the second-phase project of its Hubei Jingmen production base reached production, and the third-phase project is underway.

Once fully operational, the Jingmen plant will have annual capacity to manufacture 12 million units of passenger car tires, 2.4 million units of truck and bus tires and 60,000 units of off-road tires.