Marangoni expands N. American tread rubber capacity

ERJ staff report (TB)

Madison, Tennessee -- Marangoni Tread North America Inc. (MTNA) has completed a $10 million expansion of its Madison tread rubber plant that has added capacity for the firm's conventional Unitread tread rubber production and expanded capacity for the spliceless Ringtread product.

The investment increased Ringtread capacity 30 percent, MTNA said, and created 20 new jobs. As production ramps up, MTNA said it expects to add eight to 10 more new jobs in the coming six months to the 75 there now.

Adding capacity for the Unitread product line makes MTNA a more full-service supplier, the firm said, and a total solutions company for independent retreaders. The company, a subsidiary of Italy's Marangoni S.p.A., offers a full catalogue of retread equipment and plant supplies for customers in the US and Canada.

Marangoni set up the Madison plant in 2004 as a base of operations to build a network of Ringtread retreaders. There are 26 Ringtread plants in operation in the US and Canada.

MTNA did not disclose the plant's capacity or employment. Last year parent Marangoni S.p.A. said the project would add capacity for about 1,000 Unitread treads per day.

MTNA describes its Unitread product as an “innovative precure tread line” that is cured at lower temperatures than other conventional precure treads. MTNA supplies Unitread in cut-to-length sizes that are designed to minimise waste and reduce under-tread to run cooler in operation.

From Tire Business (A Crain publication)