With a capital investment of $300 million, tire maker Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., is planning construction of a new plant in West Point, Miss., to produce truck and bus tires. Yokohama Rubber has been providing tires exported from plants in Japan and Thailand to the North American market through GTY Tire Company, a U.S. joint venture company.
Increasingly growing demand for its products in the U.S. and Canada led to the decision to build the new plant, Yokohama stated. The U.S. plant, with an annual production capacity of one million tires, will be built on a 500-acre site. Under the company’s plan, construction will begin by September of this year and production at the facility will begin in October 2015.