Yokohama Rubber on growth path with tire, industrial expansion plans

Tokyo – Yokohama Rubber Co. (YRC) has spelled out details of its expansion programme for 2023, as it concludes its ongoing medium-term management plan Under Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023).

The projects, said the Japanese tire & rubber group 17 Feb, include a car tire capacity expansion in India, which will see the group increasing output there by 60% to 4.5 million units per year.

In its commercial tire business, YRC will explore opportunities created by market changes, with a focus on four themes: cost, service, digital transformation (DX), and strengthening its product line-up.

In the off-highway tire (OHT) business, which has been described as “a key driver” for future growth, the group will bring its production facility in Visakhapatnam, eastern India, to ‘full capacity’ during 2023.

The plant began production ahead of schedule in August last year.

YRC is also making an additional investment to expand production of truck and bus tires, including tires for light trucks, at its Mie plant in Japan: adding 100,000 tires to the unit’s annual production capacity.

For the industrial rubber segment ‘multiple business’, Yokohama Rubber said resources are being concentrated on “two strongest businesses” — hose & couplings and industrial products.

In 2022, Yokohama Rubber said the hose & couplings business progressed with the reorganisation of its automotive hoses & couplings production network in US and Mexico.

In the hydraulic hose area, the group has decided to expand production capacity at its Ibaraki plant in Japan in addition to its plans to increase output in China.

YRC operates two industrial products facilities, in the Hangzhou and Shandong provinces of China.

The group, meanwhile, noted that its industrial products business expanded its share of the conveyor belt market in Japan to nearly 50% in 2022.

In its home country, YRC has also started work to expand the manufacture of industrial products at its Hiratsuka factory.

In 2023, the hose & couplings business will expand its production facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico, to bring its share of total group output to 31%.