Continental Tire Breaks Ground for New Mississippi Tire Plant
CLINTON, MISSISSIPPI — Continental is investing more than $1.4 billion in a new truck tire manufacturing plant. The official groundbreaking ceremony took place on Wednesday. The facility is located in Hinds County off of Interstate 20, two miles from Clinton and 20 miles from the state capital of Jackson, and will employ about 2,500 people by the time it reaches full capacity in the next decade.
Continental expects to begin actual construction of the plant in 2018, following 18 months of clearing and preparation work at the 1,000-acre site.
“Building this new facility in Mississippi is a critical part of our growth strategy for Continental Tire, known as Vision 2025,” said Nikolai Setzer, member of Continental’s Executive Board and head of Continental’s global tire business worldwide. “This is the first new plant, globally, for the truck tire business in more than ten years. We are convinced that the state of Mississippi provides the best options for Continental to grow our tire business.”
Setzer says Continental looked at many prospective sites, including Mexico, before settling on Clinton Mississippi.
“We looked at the entire picture, including where our customers are and how we get raw material into the plant,” he said. “We looked at economic and political stability, currency exchange rates, the availability of a skilled labor force, sources of training and even the size of the available land plots.”
Continental says growth in its commercial vehicle tire business has consistently exceeded the market over the last five years and the company continues to see customer demand for its products — both new truck and bus tires as well as retreads which are growing beyond the company’s existing capacity.
“This plant is a significant step in addressing our commitment to grow our commercial vehicle tire business in North America,” said Paul Williams, executive vice president, commercial vehicle tire, …Read the rest of this story
