Bridgestone Corp. has announced it will construct a plant to produce large and ultra-large radial tires for mining and construction vehicles in response to growing global demand for those tires.
Plans are to build the new plant
in the Hibikinada Industrial Area in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture.
It will be the first time in more than 30 years that Bridgestone has built a new tire plant in Japan, the last being the Hofu Plant, which started operation in 1976. Bridgestone will also increase production capacity of steel cord for mining and construction vehicle tires at the Saga Plant in order to support this new plant. Approximately 32.0 billion yen has been earmarked for the both projects.
Construction will begin in the second half of 2007, with production expected to get under way in the second half of 2009. Production capacity is projected to reach around 30 tons of new rubber a day by the second half of 2010.