Giti Tire Co. Ltd. is building a consumer tire plant in Chester County, S.C. Executives from Giti and its North American subsidiary, Giti Tire (USA) Ltd., joined South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley and state and county officials today in announcing the plan.
According to Giti, the $560 million tire manufacturing plant is necessary "to meet growing demand in the North American market." The facility is expected to generate 1,700 new jobs over the next 10 years.
“This significant investment represents our strong commitment to customers in North America," said Enki Tan, executive chairman of the Giti Tire Group. "This is a key milestone for Giti Tire and an important part of our growth strategy worldwide.
"Existing business and strong demand for Giti Tire’s passenger and light truck tires in North America has made this significant investment in South Carolina possible. Giti Tire would like to thank Governor Haley, Secretary (Robert) Hitt, the state and people of South Carolina, Chairman (Carlisle) Roddey and the Chester County community for welcoming us.”
This is the first greenfield project in North America for Giti Tire. The plant will produce passenger and light truck tires for the replacement and original equipment markets. The plant will be built with a focus on maintaining a healthy balance with the environment and following Giti Tire’s green initiatives.
“Chester County is an excellent location for Giti Tire, offering an extensive and efficient infrastructure network including interstate highways, rail, close proximity to airports and a major metropolitan area to support the company’s needs and growth for many years to come,” said Lei Huai Chin, managing director of the Giti Tire Group.
“The new facility will combine manufacturing plant and distribution center with total building area estimated to be 1,800,000 square feet," said Tom McNamara, executive vice president of sales and marketing for Giti Tire (USA).
"The first phase of production capacity is expected to be 5 million tires annually. Giti Tire plans to further increase production capacity in response to future market demand and conditions."
"This is another huge win for our state and Team South Carolina," said Gov. Haley. "We are the nation’s tire capital, and Giti’s decision to come to our state is another great sign that our economic development efforts are paying off for the hardworking people of South Carolina."
Hitt echoed those comments. “Today we welcome South Carolina’s fifth OEM tire manufacturer, which further bolsters our state’s reputation as a manufacturing powerhouse and the nation’s tire capital," he said.
"We look forward to handling their import-export needs through the Port of Charleston and continuing to support our state’s growing tire industry,” added Jim Newsome, CEO and president of the South Carolina Ports Authority.
Giti Tire (USA) markets and sells high performance, passenger, SUV, light truck and medium truck tires in the following brands in the United States and Canada: GT Radial, Primewell, Dextero and Runway.
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