Finnish tyres manufacturer Nokian Tyres has broken ground on its new tyre factory in Oradea, Romania.
The new car tyre plant is claimed to become the first zero-carbon-dioxide emission tyre factory in the industry.
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It involves a total investment of nearly €650m ($710.9m). The company is awaiting final approval from the EU for its application for $109.3m in funding.
The 100,000m² factory will also include a distribution facility to store and distribute tyres.
Upon completion, the facility is estimated to hold a capacity for six million tyres annually along with the potential to increase this in future.
It will mainly produce large rim-size passenger and SUV tires, which are planned to be mostly sold in Central Europe.
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By GlobalDataNokian expects the first tyres to be manufactured at the site in the second half of 2024, with commercial tyre production set to begin in early 2025.
Nokian Tyres president and CEO Jukka Moisio said: “This investment is a significant strategic step enabling our future growth and development.
“A world-class manufacturing facility in Europe is a key step in getting additional capacity and creating a balanced manufacturing platform as we build the new Nokian Tyres.
“We are very proud to build the first zero-CO₂ emission factory in the tyre industry. This means for instance that energy used at the factory comes from renewable sources and steam needed for the tire manufacturing process is generated fully without fossil fuels.
“The site location in Romania supports the target as we can utilise green energy produced near the site. We are committed to building a sustainable and competitive tyre production facility.”
