Nokian Tyres to make first investment in U.S.

Winter tyre producer Nokian Tyres said on Wednesday that it has decided to make investment in Tennessee, the United States.

The Finland-based company will invest 360 million U.S. dollars and hire about 400 employees to build a tire-manufacturing facility. Local officials said that it is the largest direct foreign investment in the history of Rhea County.

The construction of the factory is scheduled to begin in early 2018 and the production will start in 2020. The annual capacity of the new factory is estimated to be 4 million tyres with an expansion potential in the future, said Nokian Tyres.

The factory will be the second overseas factory of Nokian Tyres. The first one was built in 2005 in Vsevolozhsk, Russia. The only domestic productive facility is in Nokia, southwest Finland. The current production capacity in Finland and Russia totals more than 20 million units.

The leading winter tyre manufacturer has achieved steady growth in the past a few years. It reported its interim report for the first quarter this year on Wednesday. Compared with the same period last year, its net sales increased by 18.2 percent and operating profit rose by 16.6 percent.