The Yokohama Rubber Co. established Yokohama Rubber Singapore Pte. Ltd. in April. Capitalized with $20 million from YRC, the new subsidiary is schedule to begin full operations in mid-May, the tiremaker said.

Previously, Yokohama has had a branch office in Singapore engaged in the procurement of natural rubber from Southeast Asian nations. The tiremaker decided to establish a Singapore subsidiary in an effort to raise the efficiency of its raw material procurement function on a global basis, the company said.

Yokohama Rubber Singapore will be engaged in procuring natural rubber for Yokohama Rubber’s Japan plants in fiscal 2015, but the plan is to expand its natural rubber procurement business to also cover the needs of all of YRC’s overseas plants in 2016.

The existing Singapore office will continue operating until it completes the handover of its functions to the new subsidiary, Yokohama said.