Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is pleased to announce that we have decided to begin production of truck and bus tires at our group's factory in Brazil in order to ensure a steady supply of truck and bus tires for the Brazilian domestic market. Thus, we are currently moving forward with plans to invest a total of 312 million real (approx. 10 billion yen*) to install new production equipment at our Brazil Factory. Local production of truck and bus tires is scheduled to begin in March of 2019 with an initial capacity of 500 tires per day.
The Sumitomo Rubber Group's Brazil Factory began producing tires for passenger cars and light trucks in October of 2013 and now boasts a production capacity of 15,000 tires per day (as of the end of 2015). Our group's Brazilian subsidiary currently imports truck and bus tires for the domestic market, but as the Brazilian market for these tires is expected to grow by about 2% each year for the foreseeable future, we have decided to take this step in order to further strengthen our tire sales business for truck and bus tires, in addition to passenger car and light truck tires, in the Brazilian market by ensuring a steady supply of locally produced tires while avoiding the currency fluctuation risks inherent in import/export. In order to start producing truck and bus tires at our factory in Brazil beginning in 2019, our group is moving forward with plans to invest a total of 312 million real (approx. 10 billion yen*) in new facilities and equipment over the next four years. Further, from 2017 onward, we are also planning to invest a total of 175 million real (approximately 5.6 billion yen) to increase production of passenger car and light trucks tires at our group's Brazil Factory.
*Exchange Rate: 1 Real = 32 Yen
|
