Output begins at Yokohama’s Visakhapatnam off-road tyre plant

YOHT Yokohama Rubber Co has started production at its third Indian off-road tyre manufacturing plant in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, about four months ahead of schedule. The facility is aimed at enabling Yokohama Off-Highway Tires (YOHT) to respond more quickly to the expanding global demand for off-road tires, Yokohama said in a statement. This new plant, like the existing facilities in Dahej, Gujarat, and Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, will produce YOHT’s Alliance, Galaxy and Primex off-highway tyre brands, which are used on agricultural, construction, industrial and forestry vehicles. Yokohama began construction on the $171-million facility in the third quarter of 2020 to support a 1.6-fold expansion project at its production unit in Dahej, in Gujarat. According to the tyremaker, the Visakhapatnam unit will have a daily manufacturing capacity of 69 tonnes in rubber weight in its initial production stage. The daily capacity will be increased to 132 tonnes in the second phase, which is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2024. Further expansion of the plant’s capacity is under consideration. When fully completed, the Visakhapatnam facility will raise Yokohama’s overall production capacity for off-road tyres to 548 tonnes rubber weight per day. The plant will be operated by YOHT, a subsidiary that was formed in 2021 and combines Yokohama’s off-road tyre business with that of the Alliance Tire Group. Under its medium-term management plan, Yokohama Transformation 2023 (YX2023), Yokohama has positioned off-highway tyres as a growth driver. See also: ATC Tyres sets up Rs 14 bn manufacturing unit in AndhraKomatsu’s sales soar 18% in Q1 2022