Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Jun 28, 2008
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Jun 28, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio |
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Corporate
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Overseas Investments Apollo Tyres launches capacity expansion at Africa plants The capacities of both the South African facilities are being expanded by approximately 20 per cent, a senior Apollo Tyres official said. 
Pratim Ranjan Bose Kolkata, June 27 Apollo Tyres has launched a Rs 110-crore capacity expansion project at both the Ladysmith and Durban facilities of Dunlop Tyres International (Pty) Ltd, South Africa (DTIPL). DTIPL, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary, produces both passengerand truck-bus tyres at Ladysmith and Durban respectively. Domestic expansionThe Indian tyre major is also expanding its domestic truck-bus radial capacity at Baroda in Gujarat from 10,000 to 15,000 tyres a day at an investment of around Rs 40 crore. Both the capacity expansion projects would be completed during this fiscal. Apollo acquired DTIPL in April 2006 through a Rs 290-crore all cash deal. “We are expanding the capacities of both the South African facilities by approximately 20 per cent during this fiscal at an estimated investment of 200 South African Rand,” a senior Apollo Tyres official said. The company had stretched the combined capacity of both the plants from 150 tonnes a day in April 2006 to the current level of approximately 180-190 tonne a day through various de-bottlenecking exercises. Dunlop SA produces primarily radial tyres including truck-bus radials. Roughly 15 per cent of the capacity is used in manufacturing heavy-duty off-the-road (OTR) tyres for the mining sector. The products are marketed in Europe, Australia and South Africa. The official ruled out any investment at Dunlop Zimbabwe Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DTIPL, at this juncture. “The 30-tonne Zimbabwe plant is operational. However, we are still waiting for an improvement in the investment climate of the country,” he said. The official said that the recent slow down in India and the international economy has not impacted the company’s growth strategy. “We have always been able to grow when the industry was on a declining trend. We are not considering any change in our investment strategies this time as well,” he said adding that Apollo tyre was going ahead with its plan to set up greenfield plant at Hungary and a technology centre for future product development in Europe. At home, the greenfield OTR facility for catering to the requirement of Bharat Earth Movers (BEML) will be operational by end 2008. More Stories on : Overseas Investments | New Projects | Tyres
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