GUIYANG, China—Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd., producer of the Advance and Samson brands, plans to set up a wholly owned subsidiary in Vietnam to advance the truck and bus tire plant under construction in the Southeast Asian nation.
The subsidiary, called Advance Tyre (Vietnam), has registered capital of $43 million and its business scope covers the manufacturing of rubber tires and rubber products, according to a March 5 Guizhou Tyre announcement.
The $400 million tire plant is being built at the Long Giang Industrial Park in Tien Giang province, adjacent to Ho Chi Minh City.
Plans for the plant, revealed in April 2017, called for a finish to construction in 2018. It was expected to come on-stream in 2019, according to Guizhou provincial government's website.
Tire Business has not been able to reach Guizhou for updates on the progress of the plant.
Guizhou Tyre and a related company, Guizhou Tyre Import & Export Co. Ltd., recently were assessed U.S. countervailing import duties of 63.34 percent by the U.S. Commerce Department, the highest of any company.
Guizhou is represented in North America by GTC North America of Canton, Ohio.
Two additional phases were disclosed in a 2017 announcement, which included heavy-duty and specialty tire facilities. Phase 2 will include the investment of $140 million for an additional 2 million units per year of capacity in addition to the 1.2 million units originally disclosed.
In phase 3, the company is planning to set up a $20 million rubber processing facility.
At full capacity, Guizhou Tyre said it expects the Vietnam operation to generate $21 million in annual profit on $149 million in sales.
In a Jan. 30 statement, Guizhou Tyre said its year-on-year net profit rose to $17 million in 2018, compared with $34 million net loss the year before. Guizhou Tyre is considered the worlds' No. 36 tire maker, based on fiscal 2017 sales of $730 million, according to Rubber News' annual Global Tire Report.
"The company has effectively adjusted its product portfolio and regional sales proportion, significantly raised tire sales volume and value and upped profit margin," it said.