Bridgestone puts $970M into new tire production
by CanadianManufacturing.com Staff
Bridgestone Corp. subsidiary Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, will invest about US$970 million to begin production of large and ultra-large off-the-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles.
Tokyo—Bridgestone Corp. subsidiary Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, LLC, will invest about US$970 million to begin production of large and ultra-large off-the-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles—large and ultra-large ORR tires—at a new plant in Aiken County, SC.
The investment is aimed at satisfying strong global demand for these products in North, Central, and South America.
The Bridgestone Group will also increase steel cord production—a key component in large and ultra-large ORR tires—at its Saga Plant and its Clarksville Plant in Tennessee.
Production will begin in the first half of 2014 and the project will be completed in the first half of 2020, bringing the plant’s large and ultra-large ORR tire production capacity to approximately 130 tons per day.
These tires had been produced exclusively at Bridgestone’s Shimonoseki and Kitakyushu plants in Japan. But the company says it can further strengthen its supply systems and improve its flexibility in responding to changes in the operating environment by bringing production technologies developed in Japan to the Aiken County facility.
The Clarksville Plant is operated by Bridgestone Group company Bridgestone Metalpha USA, Inc.
Outline of the Aiken County plant:
| Location: | Aiken County, S.C. |
| Products: | Large and ultra-large off-the-road radial tires for construction and mining vehicles |
| Plant Site: | 2,210,000 square meters |
| Start of Operation: | First half, 2014 |
| Number of Employees: | 550 employees (planned by 1st half, 2020) |
| Production capacity: | 130 tons/day (planned by 1st half, 2020) |
Outline of the Clarksville Plant:
| Location: | Clarksville, Tenn. |
| Products: | Steel cord for radial tires |
| Plant Site: | 340,000 square meters |
| Start of Operation: | April 1996 |
| Number of Employees: | 410 employees |
| Production capacity: | Approximately 165 tons/day |
Outline of the Saga Plant
| Location: | Miyaki-gun, Saga Prefecture |
| Products: | Steel cord for radial tires |
| Plant Site: | 230,000 square meters |
| Start of Operation: | March 1982 |
| Number of Employees: | 498 employees (as of June, 2011) |
| Production capacity: | 250 tons/day (as of June, 2011) |
Bridgestone Corp., headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company with market capitalization of $16,94 billion and more than 142,000 employees.
