SHENYANG, China (Jan. 11, 2013) — Bridgestone Corp. will spend $99.9 milllion to relocate its 18-year-old Bridgestone (Shenyang) Tire Co. Ltd. radial truck and bus tire plant to a site in Shenyang Chemical Industry Park.
Bridgestone said the decision to move the plant is "in accordance with Shenyang City development policies," which have been revised in light of urban growth around the existing Shenyang City plant. The tire maker acquired the factory from Shenyang Santai Tire Co. Ltd. in stages, starting with a 60-percent share in 1999.
Shenyang Santai, in turn, had built the plant in 1995 with engineering assistance from Pirelli S.p.A.
Bridgestone did not release a timetable for the project nor say whether the new plant would be larger than the existing factory, which is rated at 3,700 tires a day with 1,199 employees.
The new site covers about 4.25 million square feet at the Shenyang Chemical Industry Park, which is part of the Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone southwest of Shenyang proper.
Group Michelin is going through a similar experience in Shenyang. The company is building a $1.46 billion tire plant in Shenyang Economic and Technological Development Zone that will replace a factory Michelin opened in the northern China city 17 years ago.
Michelin's local subsidiary there, Michelin Shenyang Tire Co. Ltd., said it will move production from the existing factory to the new facility in an "environmentally friendly way" after the new plant's completion in 2014.
As part of its reasoning, Michelin cited the "accelerating urbanization" of Shenyang City. The new plant is expected to have annual capacities of 10 million car tires, 1.8 million truck tires and 295,000 retreads, with a work force of 1,500 employees.