TOKYO—Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is planning to double capacity for radial truck tires in Thailand by late 2015 with the construction of a second plant on land adjacent to its existing 8-year-old factory in Rayong Province.
Yokohama has budgeted $82 million for the plant, which should start production by April 2015 and reach full annual capacity of 350,000 units by year-end 2015, the company said.
The tire maker said the expansion supports its plans to increase sales of medium truck/bus tires globally.
Yokohama will build the Phase II expansion factory on a 6.4-acre plot of land. Construction is expected to start in July.
The existing Yokohama Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co. Ltd. plant started production in April 2005. Yokohama exports most of the plant's output to North America and Europe.
Yokohama did not comment on the plant's expected employment.
The company also produces passenger and light truck tires at the same complex in Rayong Province. That plant began operation in November 2006 and has expanded steadily to hit annual production capacity of 4 million tires.
The project ties into the company's "Grand Design 100" strategic plan to add as much as 20 million units of new annual production capacity worldwide in the 2014-2017 period, boosting global capacity by more than 30 percent to 86 million units annually.