KOBE, Japan (April 4, 2013) — Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) has budgeted $15 million to install capacity for radial motorcycle tires at its Amata City, Thailand, factory, in response to growing demand in Asia for tires for full-size motorcycles.
The new capacity of 64,000 tires per month should begin production by January 2015. SRI did not say how many jobs the expansion would create.
The Thai capacity will supplement SRI's radial motorcycle tire production at its Nagoya, Japan, plant.
The Amata City car and light truck tire plant in Thailand's Rayong Province, operated by Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co. Ltd., opened in 2005.
SRI also is investing $126 million at the Amata City plant through mid-2014 to add capacity for radial agricultural tires. The 1.4-million-sq.-ft. addition is slated to begin production in May 2014, with a nameplate monthly capacity of 800 metric tons, or 50,000 tires, expected to be reached by 2017.