Sumitomo, Conti investing in Brazil unit expansions

CURITIBA, Brazil—Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) will invest $213 million in its tire factory in Fazenda Rio Grande, Brazil, the regional government announced.

Confirmation of the investment, it said, followed a recent trade mission by Parana state officials to Japan and South Korea, organized by inward investment agency Invest Paraná.

Established in 2013, the 1,500-employee plant has a listed capacity of 2,500 metric tons per month for Dunlop brand passenger car, light truck and truck/bus tires.

SRI's investment should generate 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and increase global sales for the Paraná plant, according to an April 13 announcement by Parana State News Agency

SRI, it noted, supplies tires to Toyota, VW, Honda and Iveco in Brazil and elsewhere to Nissan, Ford, Subaru, Audi, Porsche, Mitsubishi and Mercedes-Benz.

The Parana state announcement mirrors one issued by SRI in July 2021 to invest more than $200 million over three years to increase production capacity at the Fazenda Rio Grande unit.

Passenger car and light truck tire capacity was to rise from 18,000 to 23,000 units per day by April 2024, and truck/bus tire capacity from 1,000 to 2,200 units per day a year later.

In the same statement, the Parana state government said Continental was investing about $35 million in an expansion of its conveyor belt plant in Ponta Grossa.

The project will expand the unit by 75,000 square feet to 537,000 square feet and will mark the introduction of "high resistance" conveyor belt technology to Brazil.

"It is yet another investment that will bring more development, employment and income to the people of Paraná, said State Gov. Carlos Massa Ratinho Jr.

The investment will also "further strengthen the industrial sector and reinforce our position on the national scene," he added in the state agency announcement.