Yokohama's Indian OHT plant on stream ahead of schedule

VISAKHAPATNAM, India — Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. (YRC) has commissioned production at its newest plant, the off-highway tire factory in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, nearly nine months ahead of schedule as YRC works to meet growing demand for such products.

In its initial production stage, the plant — Yokohama's third off-highway tire factory in India — will be producing a daily rate of 69 metric tons (rubber weight), Yokohama said. The capacity is scheduled to nearly double to 132 tons daily by the first quarter of 2024 with further expansion under consideration.

The 4.2 million sq.-ft., $165 million plant was scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2023. The earlier-than-planned startup will enable Yokohama Off-Highway Tire to respond more quickly to expanding global demand for agricultural, construction, industrial and forestry tires.

The plant's opening ceremony, held on Aug. 16., was attended by Jagan Mohan Reddy, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, Masayuki Taga, consul general of Japan in Chennai, and Nitin Mantri, a member of the board and managing officer of the Yokohama Rubber and the head of the Group's OHT division.

In his greeting at the opening ceremony, Mantri said, "We are very excited with this best-in-class facility that will set a new benchmark for quality and productivity in the OHT segment. With our increased capacity we will reduce our lead times to better serve our global customer base."

The factory is located in the Atchutapuram Industrial Park near Visakhapatnam, a port city on the Bay of Bengal about 500 miles north of Chennai, which is considered an advantageous location for exporting finished products, YRC said earlier.

Yokohama's other two off-highway tire plants, in Dahej, Gujarat, and Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, were opened by Alliance Tire Group before YRC acquired that company in 2016.
The plants produce three of the YRC's core off-highway tire brands, Alliance, Galaxy and Primex, used on agricultural, construction, industrial and forestry machinery.

Yokohama also operates five other plants for OTR tires — three in Japan, one in Israel and one in Vietnam — and claims an overall capacity of 425 tons per day for tires of these types.

YRC expects to complete its pending acquisition of Trelleborg Wheel Systems Holding A.B. from Sweden's Trelleborg A.B. in the latter half of the year. That business is expected to boost Yokohama's annual sales by more than $1 billion.