Michelin Shutters Ballymena Factory, Invests in Retreading Sites

Michelin Tyre Plc announced it will close its truck tire factory in Ballymena, Ireland, while investing in U.K. passenger tire and retreading sites in Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent, respectively.

The Ballymena factory closure plans suggest the site will be run-down between now and a mid-2018 closure point, according to Tyres & Accessories. The Ballymena factory currently employs 860 people and Michelin says it is “committed to supporting those employees during consultation and in the forthcoming months.”

This support will include enhanced redundancy payments, training and advice to find new employment quickly. Employees prepared to relocate will be offered a job in U.K. or European plants with relocation support. Support will also come via Michelin Development, which is prepared to release more than £5 million to help company start-ups fund expansion at existing businesses and supply investment to attract new businesses to Ballymena.

According to Tyres & Accessories, Michelin said the proposal to close the factory comes in light of a significant downturn in demand for truck tires, as well as increased low-cost imports.

Meanwhile, the tiremaker announced £65 million of investments at its Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent sites.

Dundee will benefit from a five-year investment of more than £52 million to modernize the factory, Tyres & Accessories reported. The investment will increase production by 30% through the installation of new tire-building machines, enabling the production of larger tires. Tire curing capabilities will be increased with the installation of electric presses, the first large-scale industrialization of this technology at a Michelin production site. A new 20,000-square-meter warehouse will be built on site to accommodate this increased production.

Michelin will invest £12 million in its production and logistics facilities in Stoke-on-Trent, including a modernized distribution center of 53,000 square meters in to serve all Michelin customers, dealers and partners from a single shared logistics platform. The company said it also will “further consolidate” the money it has put into retreading machinery in recent years by splitting the £12 million between the logistics and retreading functions.

According to Michelin, this series of investments will lead to the creation of a total of more than 100 new jobs across both Dundee and Stoke-on-Trent.

GRI recently conducted programs in Sri Lanka to empower women and motivate children under its Green x Circle initiative. The company said these endeavors aimed to address the needs of the community, focusing on both women empowerment and youth motivation.

GRI recently organized a training program titled "Management of household finance under current economic conditions" at the Ingiriya Rubber Collecting Center in Sri Lanka, South Asia led by Shashika Nimali, an NLP practitioner and life coach. The company said this initiative provided women in the industry with essential skills and knowledge to effectively manage household finances. GRI's tailored training sessions equipped participants with tools for informed decision-making, ultimately fostering greater financial security and independence, the company said.