Indonesian tiremaker PT Gajah Tunngal is hoping to take advantage of increased U.S. tariffs on China-made consumer tires.
The Jakarta Globe reports company director Catherine Widjaja as saying, “We are looking to see if we can fill the void left after the U.S. hiked import tariffs on Chinese tires.”
The 35% additional tariff has made China-produced tires much less attractive, and Widjaja said Gajah Tunggal could increase production should a greater demand for non-Chinese tires exist.
“If demand picks up next year there could be opportunities for expansion. But for the time being, we’re monitoring cautiously, and will just optimize our production capacity,” she said. At present the Indonesian manufacturer exports around 38% of its output, and the U.S. is its largest overseas market.
According to the Jakarta Globe, Gajah Tunggal produces around 35,000 radial tires a day and plans to increase output to 45,000 a day by 2012. (Tyres & Accessories)
