TRELLEBORG, Sweden — Trelleborg A. B. expects to start phasing in new capacity at its Ruma, Serbia, agricultural and industrial tire plant in the third quarter of 2018, the company said recently.
In a prepared statement, Trelleborg said the expansion program at the Ruma facility in northern Serbia would add "more than 50 percent" in terms of production capacity.
The spokeswoman declined to disclose investment figures for the project.
The Swedish company gained the plant through the acquisition of Czech tire and rubber goods maker CGS Holding A.S., parent of tire manufacturer Mitas.
Trelleborg previously stated that Serbia "is well located in Europe, considering both logistics and closeness to markets including Ukraine and Russia, and has a favorable cost base."
CGS's Mitas business unit last invested in the Ruma plant in 2014 to help it meet rising demand from markets in southern and eastern Europe and the Middle East.
That project was scheduled to run through mid-2016 and boost annual capacity of bias and radial agricultural tires to 35,000 metric tons.
Mitas, in turn, bought the plant in 2008 from the former GPX International Tire Corp., whose predecessor company, Galaxy Tire & Wheel Inc., had acquired it five years earlier.
The Ruma facility opened originally in 1981, operating under the Ruma-Guma AD name.
Separately, Trelleborg Wheel Systems acquired White Baumaschinenreifen G.m.b.H., a Duisburg, Germany, company specializing in servicing, fitting and repairing pneumatic and solid tires for construction vehicles.
"The acquisition gives us the opportunity to expand our tire service concept for materials-handling and construction vehicles, while also allowing us to enhance our sales of service and distribution in Europe," said Trelleborg Wheel Systems President Paolo Pompei.
The acquired company had sales of $11 million in 2016, Trelleborg said.
Financial terms were not disclosed.