Specialty Tires gets long-awaited tire presses

NATCHEZ, Miss. (Aug. 17)—Specialty Tires of America Inc. last month took possession of 11 tire curing presses from Titan International Inc.´s Natchez tire plant, ending nearly three years of waiting. Indiana, Pa.-based Specialty sent representatives to Natchez in mid-July to inspect and take out the 75-inch presses. The presses will be used in Unicoi and possibly in the company´s Indiana tire facility, he said. Specialty´s control of the machinery brings partial conclusion to a legal dispute over the equipment among three companies: Specialty; Condere Corp., which went bankrupt in 1997 and is now controlled by Titan; and New Jersey financing firm CIT Group Equipment Financing Inc.