Maxxis plans B9.3bn expansion

Business News - Thursday December 20, 2007

Maxxis plans B9.3bn expansion

Taiwanese tyre firm sees major potential

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

The local unit of the Taiwanese tyre company Maxxis plans a major expansion worth 9.36 billion baht to tap global and domestic automobile market growth.

The expansion would increase the company's capacity to 7.8 million tyres a year from only 20,000 currently, said Hirunya Suchinai, the deputy secretary-general of the Board of Investment (BoI), which approved investment privileges for the company yesterday.

Maxxis International (Thailand) will locate its new production line in the Eastern Seaboard Industrial Estate in Rayong province, sharing facilities with its existing plant.

The additional capacity is expected to come online next year and 80% of the total output will be exported.

Mrs Hirunya said the Maxxis plant would use about 2.4 billion baht worth of local rubber each year.

Maxxis is a subsidiary of Cheng-Shin Rubber Ind Co Ltd, which has operated its business since 1967 in the Taiwanese city of Yuanlin.

Despite what many perceive as a poor investment climate this year, the BoI approved applications for investment privileges for 1,241 projects worth 662 billion baht in the first 11 months of this year, well above its target of 500 billion baht for all of 2007.

The figures exclude Maxxis and other projects earning BoI approval this month.

Mrs Hirunya attributed the high value of foreign direct investment to industrial sector growth, particularly in automobiles and part, and the new government-backed eco-car project.

She said the BoI also approved applications for four other industrial ventures representing a total investment of 879 million baht:

- GKN Drive Line Toyoda Manufacturing Co will invest 100 million baht to produce auto axles and parts in Rayong with annual capacity of about 500,000 units, all of which will be supplied to domestic automobile assemblers.

- THK Rhythm (Thailand) Co, a Japanese company, will invest 319 million baht to produce ball-bearings, with an annual capacity of of two million pieces, and 2.8 million tie rods a year in Rayong.

- Global Thai Son Precision will invest 262 million baht to produce high-pressure cleaning and fibre-optic parts with capacity of 139 million pieces a year, as well as molds and dies for digital cameras and optical devices in the Wellgrow Industrial Estate in Chachoengsao.

- Auto Lift (Thailand) will invest 198 million baht to make seat belts and other parts with annual capacity of 13.7 million pieces, as well as airbags and related parts with annual capacity of 604,800 pieces, in Amata Nakorn, Chon Buri.

Bangkok Post