North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and Triangle Tire Chairman Ding Yuhua toast to the company’s new plant that will be built in EdgeCombe County, Cooper’s hometown.
Triangle Tire, one of the largest Chinese tire manufacturers, will build a $580 million manufacturing plant in North Carolina, the company announced Tuesday.
“Today… is a very important say for Triangle that is worth celebrating,” said Triangle Tire Chairman Ding Yuhua, who met with Gov. Roy Cooper to make the announcement. “This significant investment will play a key role in Triangle Tire’s growth strategy worldwide and represents a strong commitment to our customers in North America.”
The plant, which will be located on 1,449-acre Kingsboro Megasite in Edgecombe County, is the first U.S. plant for the Chinese manufacturer. The site’s location, an hour to the west of Raleigh, N.C., provides easy access to major highways and CSX Transportation. The plant is expected to employ 800 workers when it’s fully operational.
“We know that Triangle’s investment is going to have a monumental impact on this community and on our state,” said Gov. Cooper. “These are the jobs of tomorrow, and out workflow here must be up to the task. I know we are.”
The plant will be built in two phases: a passenger tire facility in the first phase and a commercial tire facility in the second. Both are expected to be completed by 2023. Once both reach production capacity, Triangle expects to produce six million tires per year in North Carolina – 5 million passenger and light truck tires, and 1 million TBR tires annually when at full capacity.
“Today is December 19, 2017, a very important day for Triangle that is worth celebrating,” said Chairman Ding in his remarks to the guests at the event. “After the last few years of continuous efforts and nearly one year of site selection and communication in 2017, we can finally formally announce our decision today: Edgecombe County, North Carolina will be the home of Triangle Tyre’s first manufacturing plant outside of China!”
The Triangle Group was established in 1976 and headquartered in the Weihai, a coastal city in the Shandong province of China. Since then, it has expanded to the U.S. with a Triangle Tire Technology Center in Akron, Ohio. The company’s U.S. sales company was set up in Franklin, Tenn. in 2015.
