People in position of authority at Nokian presented first plans for a new tyre plant in Romania last November. Tyres produced there are to replace capacities of Nokian’s Russian production units that had been sold and they are to supply customers in Central Europe above all. The very first CO2-free plant of the tyre industry is to be built at the location of Oradea – an important regional and European transport hub. Apart from representatives of Nokian Tyres, the Finnish Ambassador in Romania, Marjut Akola, as well as high-ranking Romanian representatives took part in the celebrations of the official start of construction.
“A top-class production plant in Europe is an important step to create additional capacities and a balanced production platform for the future of Nokian Tyres”, says Jukka Moisio, President and CEO at Nokian Tyres. He adds: “We are very proud to build the first CO2-free plant in the tyre industry. Thus, the energy used in the plant will be generated by renewable sources and the steam necessary for the tyre production process will be completely produced without fossil fuels. The location in Romania favours this concept as we will be able to use green energy produced near the location.”
500 new jobs are created
All in all, Nokian will invest about 650 million euros in the project – according to people in position of authority, this is one of the biggest investments in Romania in the last years. Currently, the decision of the EU concerning a funding application amounting to about 100 million euros is still open. The Romania government had approved it already at the beginning of this year.
The group plans to start with the production of the first tyres already in the second half of next year, before commercial production is to start at the beginning of 2025. There will be a focus on passenger car and SUV tyres with bigger rim sizes. A logistics centre for storing and selling tyres is to be built in Oradea too. The constructed area will consist of a total of 100,000 square metres.
There will be a work force of about 500 people in the Romanian plant. In the year 2024, new people will be hired and according to company information employees for both production and leadership positions will be needed. “At the beginning, we will make use of our internal knowledge that we have already acquired when setting up plants in the USA and about 20 to 25 employees from Finland will be brought to Oradea in order to support the construction of the factory”, explains Adrian Kaczmarczyk, SVP, Supply Operations.
After the construction of the new tyre factory, Nokian Tyres will – as already announced – further increase capacities of its plants in Finland and the USA and expand its order production as well. Until the year 2027, the tyre manufacturer aims to increase its worldwide production capacity to 15 million tyres per year.
