A fire broke out at the Cooper and Chengshan’s Rongcheng factory in Shandong Province, Eastern China on May 27. Several local news sources including the Xinhua news agency have reported the news and photographs showing a large plume of smoke rising from the factory have also been published.
There has not yet been any official confirmation of the fire, whether there have been any casualties and what products and machinery have been involved. A pile of trucks also appeared in the photos of the facility engulfed in flames. Further photos show smoke rising from the factory’s materials storage yard.
Cooper Chengshan (Shandong) Tire Company – a joint venture between Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. (USA) and Chengshan Group (China) – was founded in January 2006.
The company reports it has 5,000 employees and an annual capacity of 15 million tires, including 5 million truck/bus radials, 8 million passenger radials and 2 million bias tires. Brands produced in the factory include Starfire, Chengshan, Austone, Fortune, Roadmaster and Dean. (Tyres & Accessories)