World Tire Giant Investment High

The investment enthusiasm of the world’s tire giants has increased. In the past year, the cumulative investment of 9.7 billion US dollars, a record high. In 2010, the world tire industry built at least 16 tire factories (excluding China) and added 370,000/day capacity, of which 325,000 were used for passenger and SUV tires. At the same time, three old factories were shut down, reducing the production capacity of tires by 80,000/day. Investment is mainly concentrated in the Asia Pacific region, accounting for about two-thirds of the total, of which investment in China is more than US$3.5 billion; investment in Latin America is US$1.4 billion, accounting for 15% of the total; investment in Europe totals one billion. The United States dollar, mainly in Eastern Europe; North America, a total of 921 million US dollars, mainly for the upgrade of the old tire factory in the United States.

Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. has the largest investment, with an investment of 1.44 billion U.S. dollars. The main projects are: investment of 353 million U.S. dollars in the Beikesi Industrial Park in West Java, Indonesia, with a capacity of 6 million cars/year for car and truck tires, which is expected to be completed in 2014; investment of 954 million U.S. dollars in China's Chongqing to build 11.5 million U.S. The sedans and heavy-duty tire factories are expected to be put into production in 2015; the investment of US$131 million will be upgraded to the Daejeon R&D center in South Korea.

The second-largest Bridgestone investment amounted to 1.15 billion U.S. dollars. The main projects are: investment of 70 million US dollars to expand production capacity in San Jose, Costa Rica; investment of 251 million US dollars to expand the production capacity of Chinese factories; investment of 135 million US dollars to increase capacity of passenger car and light truck tire production plant in South Carolina, Aiken Plant by 4750 pieces/day; US$239 million for the third phase expansion of the North Kyushu Engineering tire plant in Japan, increasing its production capacity by 62% in 2013; investing US$239 million to expand the production capacity of Thai Nong Khae sedans and light truck tires, and to expand the plant's production capacity to 5 by 2014 Ten thousand/day; invested 200 million U.S. dollars to expand the production capacity of tires in Chonburi, Thailand, and increase production to 10,500 pieces/day by 2014.

The third is Michelin, with a total investment of 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. A total of five projects: construction of Shenyang sedan and heavy-duty tire plant, annual production capacity of 10 million car tires, 1.8 million tires and 295,000 retreaded tires; investment in 200 million US dollars Lexington, South Carolina tire factory; investment 1.35 Billion dollar upgrade of the Ladoux plant in France; investment of US$50 million in the expansion of the Woodburn tire plant; investment of US$23 million in the upgrading of Serbia’s car and light truck tire plant.

Goodyear invested $1 billion to upgrade the three major tire factories, mainly upgrading it to high-performance tires. Goodyear also moved its factory in Dalian, China, to Pulandian, and then expanded the plant to reach 10 million capacity by 2015.

Continental Tire also has five projects: investment in 320 million U.S. dollars in the construction of new car and truck tires in Russia's Kaluga; investment of 210 million U.S. dollars for the expansion of Brazilian factories in the second phase, to reach an annual output of 9 million cars and 700,000 tires by 2015 Capacity; invest USD 224 million to expand capacity of large cars and light truck tires at the Illinois plant; invest USD 25 million to acquire Modi factory in India; build green tire factory in the United States, but the investment and address are not disclosed.

There are three Pirelli investment projects in Italy: upgrading and expansion of the Silao car and light truck tire plant in Mexico; 20% increase in the capacity of the Merlo tire plant in Argentina; and construction of a radial motorcycle tire factory in China.

In terms of investment/sales revenue, Hankook Tire and Zhengxin International ranked first and second respectively, reaching 16.2% and 14.3%, respectively.

Ranked as the research investment/sales revenue rate, Hankook Tire ranks first with 3.5%, and it invested more than US$100 million in the construction of Korean R&D centers. The industry's research input/sales income rate averaged 2.5%, which is basically the same as in recent years. The growth of world tire investment is mainly reflected in the expansion of production capacity.

The acquisition of the world's tire industry is active, and product upgrades and expansions have occurred along with the acquisition. Toyo Tire acquired the Malaysian Silverstone Tyre Factory and plans to invest US$260 million in the next three to four years to build a passenger and light truck tire plant near the Silverstone Tire Factory. Dongyang Tire also purchased Shandong Luohe Yinshi Rubber Tire Co., Ltd. for US$22 million. Pirelli plans to invest 285 million U.S. dollars in upgrading and expanding its tire plant in Russia, which is expected to be completed in 2014. Cooper Tire will increase capital in China's Chengshan Tire Factory and a Mexican plant and will soon launch a tire expansion project.