Tire plant planned

Tire plant planned

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Yokohama Rubber Co. Ltd. is negotiating
with Indonesia's largest tire maker, PT Gadjah Tunggal, over the
construction of a tire plant in Indonesia, a Yokohama Rubber
spokesman said yesterday.

"We are hoping to begin the production (of tires in Indonesia)
in the latter half of next year," the spokesman said, adding that
the total cost for the project was estimated "around 30 billion
yen (US$300 million)."

The spokesman added that final plans for the project had yet
to be decided, he said.

Yokohama, a major producer of automobile tires, already
provides technical assistance to the Jakarta-based firm, the
spokesman said.

The factory will have an annual capacity of eight million
tires, the daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said yesterday.

The leading business daily said that Yokohama and Gadjah
Tunggal would build the factory at a cost of 30 billion yen and
that production would begin in the latter half of 1995.