GRAVATAI, Brazil (March 29)—Pirelli & C. S.p.A. has inaugurated production of radial truck and bus tires at its newest plant, in Gravatai, which will supply primarily Brazil and other South American markets.
Pirelli invested $50 million to add the truck tire capacity to its existing motorcycle tire plant in Gravatai, in the Rio Grande do Sul region.
The new production unit, rated at 12,000 metric tons of tires a year, covers 6 million square feet and requires about 500 employees. The existing 30-year-old plant employs 1,500 and turns out 64,000 tons of products a year.
This is Pirelli's sixth truck tire plant. The others are in Settimo Torinese, Italy; Izmit, Turkey; Alexandria, Egypt; Yanzhou, China, and Santo Andre, Brazil.
Commercial vehicle tires account for 31 percent of Pirelli's tire division sales.