SHANDONG, China (Oct. 5, 2012) — Shandong Linglong Tyre Co. Ltd., China's fourth largest tire maker, plans to build a $115 million car and light truck tire plant in Thailand, with production expected to begin by mid-2014.
Shandong Linglong has agreed to buy 121 acres of land in Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate, about 95 miles east of Bangkok in Thailand's Rayong Province for the plant, the firm's first outside of China.
Shandong Lingong said it selected the site because Rayong Province is home to manyy other vehicle assembly and parts manufacturing ventures.
The unit is expected to have a capacity for 2 million car and light truck tires annually, the company said. Construction will start in January and should be completed by January 2014. Tire production is expected to start by June 2014.
Shandong Linglong, the world's No. 19 tire maker with 2011 sales of $1.6 billion, did not comment on the plant's expected employment.
Linglong Tyre — originally known as Zhaoyuan Tire Plant — was established in 1975. It moved to radial tire production in 2001 and last year began implementing a strategy towards establishing the Linglong brand internationally. It also sells the Cross Wind and Green Max brands.
This report appeared on the website of European Rubber Journal, a London-based companion publication of Tire Business.