Chinese tyre maker Prinx Chengshan to invest $318 mln in Thai plant

Prinx Chengshan Holdings

01/04/2019 09:49

BANGKOK, April 1 (Reuters) - Chinese tyre maker Prinx
Chengshan  1809.HK  will invest 10.1 billion baht ($318.4
million) in its first overseas plant in Thailand, industrial
estate developer WHA Corp Pcl  WHA.BK  said on Monday.
    Prinx Chengshan is the latest foreign investor in Thailand's
Eastern Economic Corridor, part of a government policy to
attract foreign investment.
    Prinx Chengshan is setting up the plant in an industrial
estate run by WHA with an initial workforce of 1,200 and annual
production capacity of 4.8 million tyres for passenger cars and
trucks.
    The workforce will exceed 2,000 as capacity grows to its
production target of 12 million tyres per year.
    Thailand was chosen for its first overseas facility due to
the kingdom's position as a rubber producer with qualified human
resources and convenient infrastructure, chairman of Chengshan
Group, Che Hongzhi, said in a statement.
    Prinx Chengshan's facility will occupy 280 rai, or 44.8
hectares, in WHA's industrial estate, which targets automotive,
robotics and aviation companies.
    Thailand's industrial east is already home to foreign auto
manufacturers such as Toyota, Honda and Ford, which gave the
Southeast Asian country the name, "Detroit of the East", and
also houses petrochemical and electronic companies.  
 ($1 = 31.7200 baht)

 (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Gopakumar
Warrier)
 ((Chayut.Setboonsarng@thomsonreuters.com; +6626506126; Reuters
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