Guangzhou Fengli Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. has started work on a project at its plant in Conghua, Guangdon Province, to install annual capacity for 10 million eco-friendly, high-performance tires, according to the project’s environment assessment report.

The project is budgeted at $328 million and is scheduled to be completed by year-end 2015.

Guangzhou Fengli is a joint venture between South China Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd. (SCTR) and Guangzhou International Group Co. Ltd. set up in 2005 in Conghua. The plant covers 7.8 million square feet and has a rated annual capacity of 5 million steel-belted radial tires.

According to the environment assessment report, the company is also planning to relocate South China Tire’s manufacturing capabilities — 1.3 million radial truck tires and 4.2 million radial passenger/light truck tires annually — to the Conghua site.

SCTR is the producer of the Sunny and Wanli tire brands.

The project was first planned with a 2-million-per-year capacity for truck tires but was modified for the production of eco-friendly, high-performance tires in December, 2013.

“Currently, only less than 10 percent of the tires produced in China are eco-friendly," said Chen Weifang, secretary general of China Rubber Machinery Association. “However, it is estimated that over half of China’s tire companies will be making green tires at the end of 2015.”

Source: tirebusiness.com