OSAKA, Japan—Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. plans to build a facility in Thailand to manufacture and sell insulated panels and component liquid for rigid polyurethane.
Toyo said it will invest about $2 million in the company, which will be called Toyo Soflan Wiz (Thailand) Co. Ltd. Construction on the 29,000-sq.-ft. facility, which will be located in the Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate in Chonburi Province, will begin in January. The company expects to employ about 18.
Toyo said it currently sells and manufactures all of its domestic rigid polyurethane business at Japan's Soflan Wiz Co. Ltd. The company makes component liquid for rigid polyurethane, which is used in home and commercial refrigeration and home insulation building materials, as well as in very low temperature liquefied natural gas, storage tanks and liquefied natural gas cargo vessels. Toyo said the product prevents condensation and freezing.
Toyo set forth a goal in its midterm 2014 business plan to expand its urethane thermal insulation products and, by 2016, increase domestic and overseas net sales by 20 percent compared to 2013.
The plant will service customers in Japan as well as Southeast Asia, where market growth is expected.