Conti to upgrade, expand Sri Lankan solid tire plant

HANOVER, Germany—Continental A.G. is upgrading and expanding its specialty tires factory in Sri Lanka with a $14 million, three-year investment project.

The bulk of the investment will be used to enhance the "local pre-production capacities" at the plant in Kalatura in order to make the facility more self-sufficient, Continental said.

The plant—which Conti acquired in 2018—produces a range of solid industrial tires as well as rubber tracks and other molded goods using locally sourced natural rubber.

The upgrades will ensure an "optimized manufacturing process and limits cross-country dependencies in logistic supply chain." The project is expected to create 200 additional jobs, Conti said, without disclosing to what extent the plant's production capacity will be expanded.

Customers, meanwhile, will benefit from better product availability due to the optimized supply chain, Continental added.

The plant's output is earmarked to a large degree for the American, Asian and selected European markets under the Continental, General and Barum brands.

The expansion is aligned with Continental's strategy to "further expand its share of the growth markets worldwide" in the materials-handling field, a strategy laid out in the firm's Vision 2030 business plan.