MILAN, Italy — Pirelli & C. S.p.A. is suspending operations indefinitely at its Venezuela tire plant due to failure to secure raw materials, according to industry sources and local news reports.
The temporary stoppage will start June 16, although Pirelli is trying to find a way to continue production at the facility, based at Guacara in Carabobo state, an industry source told European Rubber Journal, a sister publication of Tire Business.
The Italian tire maker announced a temporary suspension of production at the site in January this year, again citing raw materials' shortage as the reason.
It is not clear which materials have been difficult to source for the plant.
The Guacara facility has been in operation since 1950 and maintains a daily capacity of 4,000 passenger car and light vehicle tires.
Pirelli deconsolidated its operations in Venezuela in December 2015 due to a "deterioration of the macro-economic context, growing restrictions on the conversion of foreign currencies and the reduced availability of US dollars."
At the time, Pirelli said that the Venezuelan operation would no longer be included in its results. The operation, is however, still owned by Pirelli.
Bridgestone Corp. divested its business unit in Venezuela — Bridgestone Firestone Venezolana C.A. (BFVZ) — last year to the Corimon Group, a Venezuelan capital investment enterprise.
Goodyear deconsolidated its Venezuelan unit, C.A. Goodyear de Venezuela, in early 2016 citing "evolving conditions" in Venezuela — including currency exchange control regulations and continued reductions in access to U.S. dollars — as its reasons.