The largest manufacturing employer in the state of South Carolina, Michelin, announced on April 10 that it will build a new Earthmover tire manufacturing plant in Anderson County, S.C. This will be the company's ninth plant in the state and its 19th manufacturing facility in North America.
More than 8,000 of Michelin North America's 22,300 employees are based in South Carolina.
The company is also expanding its existing Earthmover tire facility in Lexington, S.C.
The two projects represent a $750 million investment and will create up to 500 new jobs. This announcement is in addition to Michelin's 2011 commitment to add an estimated 270 jobs and invest $200 million in its existing Lexington passenger and light truck tire manufacturing facility. This expanded operation at Lexington will begin production in October.
"The market for Earthmover tires grew by more than 20% between 2009 and 2011,"said Jean-Dominique Senard, managing general partner of Michelin. "This new facility will help us meet sustained demand while also attaining our growth objectives for 2015."
Michelin North America's Chairman Pete Selleck pointed out that the expansion is due to the "pro-business environment in South Carolina. The company is expanding its Earthmover capacity in the state where we first began manufacturing in the United States."
The new Earthmover tire plant will be adjacent to Michelin's existing rubber processing plant in Starr, S.C., and will be the third Michelin plant in Anderson County. The company also operates a 2.5-million square foot rubber processing plant, the largest in the world, in Sandy Springs.
In addition to the Lexington plant, Michelin currently produces Earthmover tires around the world in Waterville, Canada; Campo Grande, Brazil; Le Puy and Montceau-les-Mines, France; Vitoria, Spain and Zalau, Romania.
