Sumitomo Rubber USA, the American subsidiary of global tyre and rubber company Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) Ltd., has announced plans to resume production at its tyre plant in Tonawanda City, New York, on May 11th. The plant has a maximum daily capacity of 17,300 units of passenger, light truck and commercial truck tyres but was “temporarily closed” since late-March, for a few weeks.
With the announcement, Sumitomo joins other notable tyre manufacturers who have scheduled plant reopenings for May 2020: Bridgestone, whose other commercial tyre plants in the US had reopened in mid-April, will have its other consumer tyre plants in North America “back to production” soon while Toyo Tire Holdings of Americas Inc. had recently announced that its consumer tyre plant in Georgia will reopen within the first week of the month.
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. had also revealed recently that its two commercial truck tyre plants in the US have initiated “limited” production and that the “majority” of its other plants in North America will resume operations by the end of May.