WUXI, China — China's Jiangsu General Science Technology Co. Ltd. (GST), producer of the GS and TBB truck tire brands, is planning to set up a research subsidiary in Georgia, pending regulatory approval.
The new subsidiary, dubbed General Rubber (North America), will be wholly owned by General Science with $5 million registered capital. Its business will cover the research and sales of tire and rubber materials and products.
The company did not specify where in Georgia the unit would be located.
Wuxi, Jiangsu-based GST — represented in North America by Statewide Tires Inc. of West Covina, Calif. — also disclosed plans to expand truck and bus tire capacity at its headquarters plant by 1.2 million units a year.
The project is budgeted at $175 million with a construction period of two to three years.
When on stream, the expanded capacity is expected to generate $13 million annual net profit on $265 million sales, the company's filing said.
Earlier this year, GST disclosed plans to add passenger tires to its portfolio.
The $23.5 million capacity expansion originally was for 6 million motorcycle and bicycle tires a year, but that capacity now will be radial passenger tires, as the "company's portfolio can no longer meet the market demand," the filing said.