Construction Underway on $100 Million Tire-Manufacturing Plant Expansion

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)-- Construction is underway on a $100 million heavy-truck manufacturing plant expansion in Bryan, Ohio, for Titan Tire Corporation (Bryan, Ohio), a subsidiary of Titan International Incorporated (NYSE:TWI) (Quincy, IL).

Site preparation began in late April/early May 2007, and building construction started in June 2007 on a 225,000-square-foot building. Construction completion is expected around the spring of 2008. The expansion will include the installation of 20 curing presses and supporting equipment to add additional production capacity to the plant for 57 and 63-inch radial low-profile off-the-road (OTR) mining tires using Titan’s technology for 15-degree wheels. Only two other manufacturers in the world produce the 63-inch radial tires: Michelin North America Incorporated (Greenville, SC) and Bridgestone Corporation (Tokyo, Japan). The expansion will allow Titan to produce approximately 6,000 giant radial tires a year at the Bryan plant and allow for production that will generate up to $240 million in sales while creating 100 to 150 new jobs.

Titan acquired this plant from Continental Tire North America Incorporated (Charlotte, NC) in 2006. The acquisition of the OTR tire facility was closed, and an agreement was reached July 31, 2006, for about $53 million. The purchase included Continental’s plant, property and equipment for about $41.4 million and inventory for about $11.5 million. Titan funded the acquisition with its revolving credit facility.

Titan International Incorporated, headquartered in Quincy, Illinois, is a publicly operating company that produces off-highway steel wheels and tires for the agricultural, construction and consumer markets. It assembles wheel-tire systems for equipment manufacturers and distributors of cranes, all-terrain vehicles, tractors, scrapes and utility trailers. The company also manufactures and distributes wheels, rims and tires for the military for trucks, tanks and personnel carriers. In 2006, the company estimated sales of $680 million. It has about 2,700 employees.

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