COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (Sept. 27, 2010)—Trelleborg A.B. has begun production after completng at expansion at the Trelleborg Tyres Lanka (Pvt.) Ltd. factory outside Colombo for making solid and pneumatic industrial tires.
The Swedish company has consolidated its global production of solid industrial tires to Sri Lanka, and the unit there has been expanded and streamlined to accommodate a new tire-making technology.
Trelleborg did not say what the expanded plant's capacity is. Previously it has stated it has 29,000 metric tons of annual capacity in the country.
Trelleborg declined to discuss the new technology in detail, saying only it is an “innovative production system” that allows the company to streamline production, thus yielding higher efficiency, flexibility and quality.
Part of the expanded production replaces capacity phased out last year in Hartville, Ohio. Earlier Trelleborg said it budgeted $19 million to consolidate production in Sri Lanka, where it has made industrial tires since the early 1980s.
Trelleborg said an estimated 80 percent of industrial tires produced globally are made in Sri Lanka.