BADALGAMA, Sri Lanka — Specialty tire producer Global Rubber Industries Pvt. Ltd. (GRI) has an eye toward expansion as the company marks its 15th anniversary.
The company was founded in 2002 by its managing director, Prabhash Subasinghe with a solid tire manufacturing plant in Badalgama, which can manufacture more than 400,000 tires annually.
Today, GRI's products reach to more than 50 countries, and it has a network of sales offices in six countries, covering the U.S., Europe and Asia.
In January of this year, GRI broke ground on a specialty pneumatic tire factory on 10 acres of land adjacent to its current solid tire factory, just north of Colombo.
GRI will open the $40 million facility in January, calling it "the most advanced in Sri Lanka dedicated to produce specialty tires and the first to produce radial agricultural tires."
GRI said the factory will be a model of innovation, as it will use solar panels, biomass boilers and recyclable waste management systems. The 1.25 million sq.-ft. plant will have a rated capacity of 25 metric tons a day.
GRI's Greenex agriculture tire line was developed for high load-carrying capacity at low inflation pressure, which the company said reduces soil compaction, provides increased traction and superior self-cleaning properties.
The company, which has sales offices and warehouses in the U.S., France, Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Australia, expanded its sales efforts in the U.S. about a year ago, buying control of Leffler Industrial Tire & Rubber Track Inc. and Kentucky Industrial Tire Inc.