Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has decided to make an additional investment in equipment and facilities for the production of truck and bus tyres at their Brazil factory.
In addition to producing tyres for passenger cars and light trucks, the group’s Brazilian subsidiary currently imports truck and bus tyres for sale on the domestic market.
However, seeing as the demand for truck and bus tyres is expected to grow by 2-3% per year, they have established a venture into locally produced tyres to avoid currency fluctuations risks in import/export.
In July 2016, the company announced the initial plan to invest R$312 million to install production equipment for truck and bus tyres at the factory, with a production capacity set for 500 tyres a day, starting March 2019.
Now, with this additional investment of R$153 million, Sumitomo has committed to increasing the factory’s truck and bus tyre production capacity to 1,000 per day in October 2019, to allow for better response to the steadily growing demand for truck and bus tyres in the Brazilian market.
The Brazilian facility located in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná, started operations in 2013, employs 1,265 staff and produces 15,000 tyres/day for passenger cars and light trucks.