To ensure a steady supply of truck and bus tyres for the Brazilian domestic market, Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has recently announced its plans to begin production of truck and bus tyres at its Brazil factory. The group will invest a total of R$312 million (approximately 10 billion JPY) over the next four years for the installation of new production equipment in the Brazil factory located at Fazenda Rio Grande, Parana. Local production of truck and bus tyres is scheduled to begin in March 2019 with an initial capacity of 500 tyres per day.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group’s Brazil Factory began producing tyres for passenger cars and light trucks in October 2013 and now boasts a production capacity of 15,000 tyres per day (as of the end of 2015). The group’s Brazilian subsidiary currently imports truck and bus tyres for the domestic market. But as the Brazilian market for these tyres is expected to grow by about 2% each year for the foreseeable future, the company has decided to start local production in order to further strengthen its tyre sales business for truck and bus tyres, in addition to passenger car and light truck tyres, in the Brazilian market. Also, by ensuring a steady supply of locally produced tyres, they will be able to avoid the currency fluctuation risks inherent in import/export.
The group also plans to invest a total of R$175 million (approximately 5.6 billion JPY) beginning 2017 to increase production of passenger car and light trucks tyres at their Brazil facility.