(Kasikornbank chairman Banthoon Lamsam (second from right) exchanges a contract with Shandong Linglong Tyre Co president and chief executive Wang Feng. The bank signed an agreement to provide$40million towards construction of the Chinese firm’s tyre factory in the Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. KBank is also offering financial and non-financial services for Shandong. )
Chinese tyre maker Shandong Linglong Tyre Co plans to spend up to US$600 million in Thailand over the next four years after last year deciding to set up its first international plant here.
President and chief executive Wang Feng said the company will spend copy00 million in the first phase on land purchase, factory construction and machinery installation. Last year, the company bought 330 rai of land in Rayong's Hemaraj Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate. It is the first large project from China for Hemaraj.
Plant construction is scheduled to be completed this year, with production due to start next March.
Annual production will total 2 million tyres, mainly for passenger cars and pickup trucks.
The new plant, named LLIT (Thailand), will need 2,000 workers, with 90% of tyres to be exported worldwide, mainly to car makers in North and South America.
Mr Feng said $500 million will be spent in the next four years to expand production in Thailand to 12 million tyres a year.
Shandong is applying for investment privileges from the Board of Investment for the second phase of its investment.
"By 2017, once our annual production reaches 12 million tyres, the Thai factory will generate revenue of copy billion a year," said Mr Feng.
Shandong on Wednesday signed a financial agreement with Kasikornbank Plc for a loan of $40 million (1.28 billion baht).
The 20th-largest tyre maker in the world operates three plants in China with combined annual production capacity of 18 million tyres.
