FULLERTON, CA -- Yokohama Rubber Co. announced it will build a new radial truck/bus tire plant in China, forming Suzhou Yokohama Tire Co. in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

The new company will be 100 percent owned by Yokohama Rubber (China) Co. Ltd.

The $81 million first phase of the plant will be operational by October 2007, said Yokohama, with an initial capacity of 350,000 units per year. The plant will be expanded as market forces dictate, the company said.

Yokohama said the new plant will employ small-scale processing methods that require a relatively smaller investment and reduce the time from the start of construction to the start-up of tire production. The plant will also introduce "Low Temperature and High Torque Mixing," a new mixing method making it possible to “achieve massive improvement in tire durability and wear resistance,” the company said.

In addition, Yokohama Rubber (China) Co. and Yokohama Tire Sales (Shanghai) Co. Ltd. held a joint opening ceremony on Apr. 12 in Shanghai.

Yokohama Tire Sales (Shanghai) Co. is a joint venture tire sales subsidiary established in January between Yokohama Rubber (China) Co. and YHI Corporation (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. Yokohama holds a 51 percent share in the venture.

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