This article was published by Tire Business on January 14, 2022

QINGDAO, China — Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. is planning to build a $590 million passenger and light truck tire plant in Galicia, northwest Spain, as part of its major global growth strategy.

The investment was reviewed and approved during Sentury's latest board of directors meeting held Dec. 19, the Qingdao-based tire maker said.

Sentury, which goes to market with the Delinte, Groundspeed, Landsail and Sentury brands, is considered the world's No. 37 tire maker, based on fiscal 2020 sales of $728 million.

The plant, with a rated capacity of 12 million high-performance radial tires a year, is scheduled to be completed in two phases over a 36-month period.

The first phase, expected to be completed by early 2024 will have a production capacity of 6 million units, Sentury said. The second phase, to double the capacity to 12 million units, should be completed by 2025, depending on local construction conditions and funding availability.

Sentury did not specify the plant's intended location in Galicia, which is described as an autonomous community encompassing the provinces of Lugo, A Coruña, Pontevedra and Ourense. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west and by Portugal to the south

Sentury is the second Chinese company to target Europe for local production. Linglong Group has a factory under construction in Serbia.

The project is part of Sentury's recently announced 833plus strategic plan, which calls for Sentury to have in operation eight tire factories, three research centers and three "customer-experience" centers within ten years.

The plant in Spain will be Sentury's second outside of China. The other, in Rayong, Thailand, opened in 2016.

The company went public late last year, with the firm's stock being traded on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange as of October. It is the 10th Chinese tire company to be publicly listed.