Magna Tyres expanding capacity at new Dutch plant

Hardenberg, The Netherlands – Magna Tyres Group has almost doubled production capacity at its recently opened OTR (off-the-road) tire plant in Hardenberg, the company has announced.

The expansion comes just six months after Magna Tyres officially opened the facility for the production of its Made in Holland tires.

The new capacity was added to keep up with growing demand for the company’s 26.5R25 and 29.5R25 OTR sizes, Magna Tyres said in a 2 Aug statement.

In January, Magna Tyres  — a privately held contract manufacturer of OTR, industrial and truck tires — initiated production of OTR tires at its expanded and re-engineered OBO Tyres retread plant in Hardenberg.

At that stage, Magna Tyres officials disclosed that the company was also in the process of increasing curing capacity further to keep up with demand.

The Hardenberg operation started with the production of heavy-duty off-highway lines at the expanded OBO Tyres plant: the MA02 grader/loader line, M-Terrain articulated dump-truck line and AG24 agricultural line.

The start-up was an important development for Magna Tyres, CEO Michael de Ruijter said at the plant christening, noting that the company was struggling to keep up with growing demand for its products worldwide.

The CEO added that additional investments "are already made in order to increase press capacity even further." However, he did not disclose the plant's capacity or the scale of investment it budgeted to add new tire capacity.

Magna Tyres, which was founded nearly 40 years ago, had previously contracted manufacturing out to tire makers in China and Taiwan, while maintaining a design and engineering staff in Europe.

In the latest statement, the company said its 29.5R25 Magna MA02 was an E3+ / L3+ tire, designed for wheel loaders, dumpers, scrapers and bulldozers.

Features include wide shoulders for increased contact-surface, while the rubber compound is said to offer optimised resistance to damage and wear.

The all-steel radial construction with improved belt layers contributes to improved comfort and heat build-up resistance, the Dutch company further claimed.

Magna Tyres described its 26.5R25 Magna M-Terrain as “an E4 tyre with a remarkably deep and robust profile.”

This tire is designed for heavy-dumper applications in day mines, excavations, scrap processing sites and for transports in underground mines.