Tigers Polymer will launch new plants in USA and Thailand by this autumn to expand the lineup and boost the output of its automobile components, as per a Nikkei staff writer. The Japanese manufacturer of molded resin and rubber parts for autos, home appliances and construction expects to complete the plants by the end of February. The investment is expected to reach just over 2 billion yen (US$17.9 mln).
The new US plant with floor space of about 6,500 sq. meters is being built at the site of the company's existing plant in the state of Ohio at a cost of roughly 1.3 billion yen. This new plant, which will have production lines that can handle both injection and blow molding methods, is to sharply increase the company's capacity for car engine air-cleaner modules. "In the U.S., new-car sales have been solid as gasoline prices have been falling," said Harunobu Genda, director of the Japanese parent.
In Thailand, a plant with 10,000 sq. meters of floor space is going up in a vacant section of the site occupied by a manufacturing unit in Ayutthaya Province. The new plant, Tigers Polymer's fourth production base in the Southeast Asian country, will make air conditioning ducts. The facility also will absorb the manufacturing operations from the company's first Thai plant, whose productivity has suffered from a series of incremental expansions. Domestic demand for cars has been weak, but vehicle exports from Thailand remain high. The company sees room for further growth in Thailand as a production base.
25-Feb-16 
{{comment.DateTimeStampDisplay}}
{{comment.Comments}}