CEAT to open new Rs 600 million radial plant in Sri Lanka
View(s):CEAT Kelani Holdings, the company that manufactures half of Sri Lanka’s tyre requirements, has announced a new investment of Rs 600 million on a new tyre plant to produce high-end radial tyres.
The new plant is integrated with the sprawling CEAT Kelani manufacturing complex at Kelaniya, enabling it to seamlessly augment production of CEAT branded tyres for the domestic and export markets, the company said in a statement.
The new plant
When the new tyre building machines and presses start production in April 2014, CEAT Kelani will increase its radial tyre building and curing capacity by 70 per cent, from 23,000 tyres per month to 39,000.
“This new investment represents a landmark in the growth and evolution of CEAT as Sri Lanka’s top tyre brand, not only in volume terms, but in terms of product range and quality as well,” CEAT Kelani Managing Director/CEO Raman Rajagopalan said. “The addition of manufacturing capacity is accompanied by investments in new machinery and equipment that can deliver a quantum leap in quality improvements and products for new tyre categories that will move the brand up the value chain.”
New technology acquisitions for the new plant include the latest Bead Apexing Machine, Cap Ply and Cap Strip Machine and improved tyre building machines and curing presses that will enable the company to produce a new grade of high performance radials in larger sizes for high end cars, he added.
Additionally, the use of segmented moulds instead of two-piece moulds would give the new radial plant the capability to manufacture high quality block-pattern radial tyres for high end Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and off-road vehicles,CEAT Kelani Vice President – Sales and Marketing Ravi Dadlani said, disclosing that the new plant will also produce key high end sizes such as the 235/70 R 16, the 195/65 R 15 and the 185/65 R 15.
Picture shows a section of the new radial plant.