Michelin North America’s newly announced OTR plant in
South Carolina will primarily produce 49-in.-diameter
and
larger radial tires for mining customers.
(PRNewsFoto/Michelin North America)
Michelin to Expand North American OTR Tire Production
Michelin North America’s newly announced OTR plant in
South Carolina will primarily produce 49-in.-diameter
and
larger radial tires for mining customers.
(PRNewsFoto/Michelin North America)
Michelin North America announced it is
planning an additional expansion of its
earthmover tire operations in the United
States. The company said it would break
ground in mid-April on a new manufac-turing plant in South Carolina, and also
expand its existing earthmover tire facil-ity in Lexington, South Carolina. Initial
production from the new plant, compris-ing 49-in. and larger radial OTR units,
is scheduled for 2013.
The two projects represent a $750-million investment and are in addition
to Michelin’s 2011 commitment to
invest $200 million in its existing
Lexington passenger and light truck tire
manufacturing facility. This expanded
operation at Lexington will begin pro-duction in October.
“Michelin intends to maintain and
strengthen its leadership in all its spe-cialty businesses, especially earth-mover radial tires,” said Jean-Dominique Senard, managing general
partner of Michelin. “The market for
earthmover tires grew by more than 20
percent between 2009 and 2011. This new facility will help us meet sustained
demand while also attaining our growth
objectives for 2015.”
The new earthmover tire plant will be
adjacent to Michelin’s existing rubber
processing plant in Starr, South Carolina,
and will be the third Michelin plant in
Anderson County. The company also
operates a rubber processing plant, the
largest in the world, in Sandy Springs.
In addition to the Lexington plant,
Michelin currently produces earthmover
tires around the world in Waterville,
Canada; Campo Grande, Brazil; Le Puy
and Montceau-les-Mines, France;
Vitoria, Spain and Zalau, Romania.
During the past year, South Carolina
has seen more than $2.8 billion in
announced tire-related plant investments
for both new plants (Bridgestone
Americas, Continental Tire–Americas and
Michelin) and plant expansions (Michelin
and Bridgestone) within its borders.
As featured in Womp 2012 Vol 06 - www.womp-int.com