TOKYO (Aug. 24) — Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. has broken ground on its radial truck and bus tire plant in Suzhou, China, which is expected to come on stream in October 2007.
The groundbreaking took place Aug. 11 with Yokohama President Tadanobu Nagumo and Suzhou city and Chinese government officials present, Yokohama said.
Yokohama has budgeted $81 million to build the plant, which will have an initial capacity of 350,000 tires per year, but that will be expanded in the future, according to Takashi Sugimoto, president of Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co. Ltd., an affiliate set up specifically for the production and sale of steel radial truck tires in China.
The plant will be Yokohama´s second in China. It set up a joint venture passenger tire plant, Hangzhou Yokohama Tire Co. Ltd., in 2003.