Conti making OTR tires in Romania

By Shahrzad Pourriahi, Crain News Service

HANNOVER, Germany (Dec. 14, 2015) — Continental A.G. has struck a deal with Eurotire Inc. to have radial OTR tires manufactured at Eurotire's plant in Drobeta, Romania.

The deal started recently with the launch by Continental Commercial Specialty Tires' radial construction tire lines, which were developed, specified and released by Continental CST and manufactured in collaboration with Eurotire, a company spokeswoman said.

According to Continental, with 2.47 million square feet of area, the Eurotire plant offers “plenty of production capacity as well as state-of-the-art manufacturing machines.”

Commenting on the partnership, the spokeswoman said that Continental CST provided the expertise in the development and specification of specialty tires, while Eurotire offered its experience in the field of manufacturing in the construction and mining segment.

The first tire versions — the ContiEarth EM-Master (E3/L3 and E4/L4) and the ContiEarth RDT-Master E4 — were launched in August 2015.

“The tires are already available in most markets such as in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa,” Conti said, adding that the tires will be launched officially in the Americas in time for MINExpo 2016, set for Sept. 26-28 in Las Vegas.

According to the spokeswoman, the tread pattern designs have been newly developed and are suitable for different environments, ranging from soft, muddy soil to solid terrain.

Eurotire is a 13-year-old U.S.-Ukrainian private venture, with two factories — the radial plant in Drobeta and a bias-ply plant in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine.

The firm lists its world headquarters in Miami.

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This report appeared on the website of European Rubber Journal, a United Kingdom-based sister publication of Tire Business.