On Tuesday, October 21, 2008, Bridgestone Group announced that it had officially opened Mexico Carbon Manufacturing SA DE CV, a wholly-owned carbon black in Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico. The new plant will supply Bridgestone Group’s tire plants in North America as well as Central and South America. Production capacity at the plant is forecast to be approximately 35,000 tons a year. The new plant is operated by MXCB and this is the Bridgestone Group’s third carbon black plant, joining facilities in Japan and Thailand. Bridgestone is currently the only major tire manufacturer to be directly back-integrated into carbon black manufacturing.
According to the press release, the management goal of the Bridgestone Group is to establish the status of being the undisputed world No. 1 tire and rubber company both in name and reality, and to this end, is working to enhance competitiveness throughout the entire supply chain. By making the most effective use of raw materials and equipment manufactured internally, the Bridgestone Group is able to develop and produce high-quality tires while ensuring stable costs and supply over the long term. Going forward, the Bridgestone Group will continue aiming for optimum raw material procurement by combining internal manufacture with procurement from external suppliers.
Below are the details of the new plant:
Outline of Mexico Carbon Manufacturing SA DE CV Location : Altamira, Tamaulipas, Mexico President : Yoichi Shiroki Plant : Start of operation — May 2008 Plant site — approximately 430,000m2 Product — carbon black Production capacity — 35,000 ton/year Employees — approximately 100
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Update: Here is a Spanish language article on the opening of Bridgestone’s new carbon black plant. It provides additional details about the inauguration ceremony, which was led by the mayor, Javier Gil Ortiz, accompanied by the Secretary for Economic Development and Employment in the state, Alfredo Gonzalez Fernandez on behalf of the Governor Eugenio Hernandez Flores.
Other attendees included the directors of Bridgestone Group, Toshiro Iwata, Yoichi Shiroki, Narumi Zaitsu, Osama Inoue, and Pascuali of Ariel; Japan’s Ambassador to Mexico, Masaaki Ono; the Vice-Chairman of the Daewoo Group, Il Woo Han; the Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the National Union of Petrochemical Industry, Gilberto Muñoz Mosqueda; and the Director General of the Port of Altamira, Alejandro Gochicoa Matienzo.