Bridgestone signals further restructuring in Brazil

Tokyo – Bridgestone has signalled further ‘business restructuring & rebuilding’ as well as fixed cost reduction in Brazil, as imports of low-cost tires impact operations in the country.

The business continues to face ‘deficit’ in Brazil “due to inability to adapt to structural changes caused by an increase in low-end imports, said Bridgestone 11 Nov.

As a result, the Japanese group said it would implement fixed cost reduction in the country at “an even higher level” in 2025.

The group aims to improve plant capacity utilisation and profitability for truck & bus tires, where its profitability saw a significant deterioration.

To achieve that, Bridgestone said, it aimed to leverage its position as a supply source for the US.

The Brazil operations reported an adjusted operating loss of Yen5 billion for the third quarter of 2024, down from a profit of Yen6.7 billion the year before.

Sales in the country dropped 12% year-on-year to Yen88 billion, while adjusted loss margin stood at 5.7%, down 12.3% from last year’s profit margin.

In 2023, Bridgestone launched a restructuring in Brazil, consolidating operations with changes, in particular, at its tire production facility in Santo Andre, Sao Paulo.

The Japanese group said it intended to shift its focus on to truck tires, agricultural tires, off-road tires and Firestone Airide airless tires at the Santo Andre facility, which at the time had the capacity to manufacture 20,200 tires/day.

The group also moved the production of PRC and light truck tires to Bahia, which has recently underwent a major expansion programme. (ERJ report)