Michelin is due to launch production of new rubber mixes at the Michelin manufacturing site in Poland this autumn. The site in Olsztyn, Poland, was opened in 1967 and integrated into the Michelin Company in 1995 to become Michelin’s sole Polish manufacturing facility.

The Olsztyn site has now become part of a £172 million investment program that will also incorporate the development and construction of a warehousing and logistics centre, adjacent to the manufacturing site. Michelin has announced that the investment program is its largest in Europe and will create more than 500 new jobs.

Polish officials were enthused by Michelin’s expansion agreement, stating that “Poland is becoming an unquestionable European leader” within the tyre manufacturing sector. Other major representatives of the sector, such as Bridgestone and Goodyear, have also invested in Polish facilities, which have “brought about positive financial results and high efficiency of production”, as one Polish official claimed.

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Goodyear has announced plans to invest $125 million into rejuvenating one of its oldest plants. The 80 year-old passenger and light truck tyre plant in Gadsden, Alabama, will be offered new equipment and upgrades over a three-year investment period, as well as aid from the local government.

Gadsden City Council has reportedly approved tax abatements for the $125 million Goodyear investment, and the recent contract with United Steelworkers has ensured that the plant will stay operational through 2010. Gadsden tyre plant was one of the twelve Goodyear plants granted “protected status” in the company’s agreement with the United Steelworker of America (USWA).

The manager of the Gadsden plant, Jim Davis, spoke to the Gadsden Times about the investment, stating that: “The capital that we’re investing here will bring process capability and production capability that just do not reside here at this time.”

Mr Davis concluded: “The investments in our plant will definitely help improve our plant’s viability and competitiveness.” The Gadsden tyre factory opened in 1928, and has the capacity to produce 15,000 passenger tyres and 10,000 light truck tyres per day.

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