By Jane Ho, Crain News Service
SHIZUISHAN, China (Nov. 11, 2015) — Ningxia Shenzhou Tire Co. Ltd. has broken ground on a 5 million unit/year radial truck tire plant at an industrial park near Shizuishan in Ningxia Province in north central China.
The plant is the second phase of a $1.65 billion radial tire expansion project the company initiated in 2013 and which was designed to put 20.1 million units of annual capacity into operation.
“We'll be targeting high-end markets and are planning to export to the U.S. and Europe,” said Chen Gang, president of Ningxia Shenzhou Tire.
The Shizhuisan-based company's brands include Inning, Landy and Logo, according to an Internet search.
Construction on this latest phase is expected to be finished by year-end 2016 and start operations in 2017, the company said. The plant will create 2,000 jobs, it said, and bring in nearly $950 million in annual production value.
The first phase, with 2.6 million unit/year radial truck tire capacity, started construction in June 2013 and produced its first tire in May, Shenzhou Tire said.
The projects cover an area of more than 2,000 acres, with a building area of 1.16 million square meters, according to a posting on the website of Ningxia Dadi Circular Development Corp. Ltd., a chemical conglomerate that's the parent of Shenzhou Tire.
A third phase — including 2.4 million units of truck, 10 million units of passenger and 100,000 units of aircraft tires annually — might be constructed overseas to counter import duties enacted by the U.S. and other countries, Mr. Chen said.
Jane Ho is a correspondent for European Rubber Journal, a United Kingdom-based sister publication of Tire Business.