Michelin North American is restarting its Earthmover tyre production plant in Starr, Anderson County – decision that will employ about 100 workers in a modern facility that previously suspended production in early 2016.
The Michelin “US 10” plant was built in 2012 and began operating in 2013. A decline in the sales for the company’s largest tyres, which are typically used on heavy equipment machines in surface mining operations, had brought abouta halt in production.
In addition to US 10, Anderson County has two other Michelin plants: US 2 in Sandy Springs, the company’s largest rubber factory in the world, and US 8, a semi-finished rubber plant adjacent to US 10 in Starr.
Bruce Brackett, president of Michelin’s global earthmover tyre division, has named the plant’s reactivation “Project Sleeping Beauty.”
“The idea all along, since the plant was idled in late 2015, was to get it up and running again when global demand for surface-mining truck tires surged again”, Brackett said.
Michelin also makes Earthmover tyres in Canada; Brazil, France, Spain, and Romania.