Tire production may be reduced at Titan´s Natchez plant

QUINCY, Ill. (Jan. 18)—Titan International Inc.´s Natchez, Miss., tire plant may be downgraded to a rubber mixing facility if an expected recession takes hold this year. The Natchez factory, which manufactures farm and industrial tires, may see the biggest changes as Titan officials take a hard look at the company´s tire operations. Maurice Taylor Jr., the company´s president and CEO, and other executives were in Natchez earlier this month, and plan on going to the Brownsville, Texas, tire plant within a week or two. Natchez is the likely location to reduce tire production because it is older than the Brownsville plant and has less capacity than Titan´s main farm tire plant in Des Moines, Iowa, Taylor said.