The Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) has approved the investment promotion application by Continental AG group's Continental Tyres (Thailand) Co., Ltd. to spend a total of 13.4 billion baht (USD400 million) to expand its tire plant in Rayong Province and boost annual production by an additional 3 million high-performance radial tires, mostly for export, reaffirming Thailand's status as the World's second largest tire production base.
The additional investment, including the construction of a new factory building, the extension of the existing plant, located in the WHA Industrial Estate Eastern Seaboard 4, and the installation of new machinery imported from Germany, will boost output at the site to 7.8 million tires per year, and increase employment by 600 to a total staff of 1,500.
"Our latest capacity expansion in Rayong reflects our strong growth in the Asia-Pacific region, one of Continental Tires' strategic growth markets. With our increased production capacity, we will meet the demands of our customers even better, locally in Thailand, and regionally in the Asia-Pacific markets," says Dalibor Kalina, Head of Continentals Business Area Replacement Tires in the Asia-Pacific region.
"At Rayong, we take great pride in being a very versatile and reliable part of Continental's global tire production network. We supply the vehicle manufacturers and the replacement tire sector with both passenger, light truck tires and motorcycle tires. Our latest expansion is a significant milestone in addition to this year's anniversaries of 15 years of tire business in Thailand and five years of tire production in Rayong," says Vignesh Devasenapathy, Plant Manager of the Continental tire plant in Rayong. He adds: "I want to thank my entire team for their passion and dedication in delivering our commitments to our customers, which is the basis for our success here at Rayong."
The plant is using locally produced natural rubber and other raw materials to make tires for motorcycle, light trucks, and passenger cars, including electric vehicles. Continental Tyres (Thailand) was established in 2009 as a fully owned unit of Continental Group. The company's tire production in Rayong started five years ago.
This investment is a major step for Continental in its development in Thailand, which is in line with Thailand's goal of attracting investments from well-known electric vehicle upstream and downstream brands through government incentives, subsidies and its advantageous position in the regional supply chain.
Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary-General of the Thailand Board of Investment, stressed that this investment highlights Thailand's position as a core player in the automotive industry and once again proves the confidence of global investors in Thailand.
It is understood that Thailand is the world's second largest tire production and export center after China, with well-known manufacturers such as Michelin, Bridgestone, Sumitomo Rubber, Yokohama Tire, Goodyear, Zhongce Rubber, Prinx Chengshan, Linglong Tire and Sentury Tire.
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