Sentury Tire Americas says the latest ruling on anti-dumping and countervailing duties levied against tires imported from China isn't deterring its growth plans for the U.S. market.
“We are a global brand with a marketing and manufacturing presence beyond China and the United States,” says Maxwell Wee, director of sales for Sentury Tire Americas. “We view this recent decision as a temporary setback and are proceeding with our worldwide expansion."
Read about the tariff ruling, approved by the International Trade Administation, here.
With its eye on the U.S. passenger, SUV, CUV and light truck tire market, Sentury is moving into a new headquarters as well as a warehouse in Miami, Fla. later this month. In February 2015 Sentury announced the opening of a new warehouse in Memphis, Tenn. to service its growing customer base in the Northeast and central U.S.
To accommodate this growth Sentury also is increasing its manufacturing capacity — in Thailand. Sentury Tire’s parent company, Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd., will be opening a new manufacturing facility during the third quarter of 2015.
Sentury says the state-of-the-art factory will utilize a comprehensive automated intelligence manufacturing process that increases efficiency and minimizes production times. The facility, located near Bangkok, Thailand, will be building the complete line of Landsail and Delinte Tires, including the new light truck AT, HT and MT tires.
Manufacturing capacity will be built out in two phases. The first phase, to be completed in 2015, will enable production of 5 million tires. Phase two is expected to commence in early 2016. Total manufacturing capacity is projected at 12 million tires per year.
“We expect our tire sales to continue to be robust for the remainder of 2015 and, even in light of the tariff/duties that are being levied, Sentury Tire still has a program that will work for our distributors and dealers to maintain their competitiveness,” says Wee.
For more information, visit www.senturytireusa.com.
