Name and Location
Tyre manufacturing plant upgrade and expansion project.

Location
Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Client
Sumitomo Rubber South Africa (SRSA).

Project Description
The project will be completed in two phases.

Phase 1 entailed upgrading and modernising the tyre manufacturing plant to increase the output of passenger sport utility vehicle (SUV) tyres. Current passenger and SUV production capacity is about 12 500 tyres a day.

New SUV tyre models were also introduced to the manufacturing line in response to market demand for these models in South Africa and other African markets.

The Phase 2 expansion project will introduce truck and bus radial (TBR) tyres to the manufacturing line. Planned production capacity by 2020 is 750 tyres a day.

This Dunlop-branded product line is currently imported into South Africa from Sumitomo Rubber Industry plants in Japan and China, owing to a lack of suitable manufacturing capacity locally.

The new investment will terminate this import arrangement and establish a suitable local manufacturing base.

Potential Job Creation
The factory employs 1 060 people, with more than 80% of the workforce hailing from Ladysmith and surrounding areas.

Employment has been created for 193 additional employees since the start-up, including 118 in-service trainees, learnerships, graduates and apprenticeships.

Nineteen TBR employees have received training at the company’s Miyazaki factory, in Japan, to develop their technical methodology and gain an understanding of Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ processes to transfer this knowledge to shop-floor staff in South Africa.

Value
Phase 1 entailed a R1.1-billion investment.

Phase 2 will entail a R970-million investment.

Duration
Not stated.

Latest Developments
The state-of-the-art R970-million TBR tyre factory in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal, will produce 24 sizes for the Dunlop, Sumitomo and Falken tyre brands, Japanese diversified industrial group Sumitomo has said.

The investment to manufacture truck and bus tyres locally is part of the second phase of investments and increases the total investment in its SRSA Ladysmith facility to R2-billion.

The drivers for the investment – despite the challenges of developing a TBR tyre factory from scratch – include the African market’s potential and, particularly, the Free Trade Agreement, which will support Sumitomo Rubber’s business initiatives.

The local TBR tyre production will result in growing businesses for truck and bus vehicle manufacturers and present opportunities for government-related businesses.

The factory has been certified to European standards and planned production capacity by 2020 is 750 tyres a day.

The factory aims to eventually manufacture enough tyres a day to meet TBR client demand for Dunlop- and Sumitomo-branded tyres for the replacement and original-equipment manufacturer market across the whole of Africa.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
None stated.

On Budget and on Time?
Too early to state.

Contact Details for Project Information
SRSA manager: public relations and communications Alisha Molechan, tel +27 31 242 1317 or