General Science changes scope of Thai expansion to focus on PCR tires

Shanghai, China – Jiangsu General Science Technology Co. Ltd has changed the scope of a major expansion project at its Thai tire manufacturing plant to increase focus on semi-steel passenger car radial (PCR) tires.

The Chinese manufacturer broke ground on the Yuan1.9 billion (€240 million) programme in September last year to add production capacity for 6 million units of PCR tires and 500,000 truck and bus radial (TBR) tires.

In a 15 June stock exchange announcement, however, General Science said it was dropping the TBR side of the project to solely focus on PCR production.

Instead, the group said it will increase the production of PCR tires by 10 million units per year at the Rayong facility.

With the change in the scope of the project, General Science said its investment budget had increased to Yuan1.976 billion, of which the construction investment was nearly Yuan1.6 billion.

Operational since 2020, the factory, run by subsidiary General Rubber (Thailand), currently has capacity to produce 1 million TBR tires and 6 million PCR tires.

The construction period for the expansion project is expected to take 24 months.

Once completed, the project is anticipated to increase average annual operating income by Yuan2.5 billion yuan, up from the previous estimate of Yuan2.1 billion before the change of scope. (ERJ report)

The project is also expected to deliver an average annual net profit of Yuan459 million, said General Science in its latest announcement.

As previously announced by ERJ, the project is part of the group’s internationalisation strategy, aiming to utilise Thailand's “superior rubber resource advantages, mature tire manufacturing industry chain and economic policies with international advantages.”

According to the group, the Thai factory has reached agreements with “many leading customers in North America, Europe and Southeast Asia” for the supply of “high-quality products”.

The tire maker previously stated that the first phase of the factory had reached full production with both sales and orders “exceeding demand.”