QUINCY, Ill. (Jan. 4, 2017) — Titan International Inc. is planning to consolidate mining wheel production from its plant in Saltville, Va., at its North American wheel division headquarters in Quincy in an effort to take advantage of its production capacities.
"We're consolidating production in order to more effectively serve our key mining customers, providing them the innovative wheel solutions they've come to depend on," Titan President and CEO Paul Reitz said, stressing that Titan continues to be committed to the mining industry.
"During this transition, our customer service and support teams are committed to ensuring that our customers experience minimal service or production interruptions," he said. "As the mining market returns, Titan will evaluate moving production back to the Saltville…facility."
It was not stated how many employees will be affected at the Saltville plant, where the company's staffing plan is "still evolving" to ensure no customer disruptions with production. However, Titan did indicated that the move will not create any new jobs at Quincy, where existing capacity should allow the firm to absorb the additional production.
The company gave no indication about how the move would impact earnings.
Titan does not disclose sales or earnings data related to wheels vs. tires, but the company did point out in its third-quarter 2016 earnings report that sales in the earthmoving/construction sector were down 8.2 percent for the nine months ended Sept. 30, despite a 2.5-percent gain in the third quarter.
The OTR business represents about 42 percent of Titan's annual sales.