Federal Corp (泰豐輪胎), the nation’s fifth-largest tire manufacturer, yesterday said a fire on Tuesday at its plant in Taoyuan’s Jhongli District (中壢) could cost it more than NT$500 million (US$15.83 million).
The fire broke out in one of its buildings and was extinguished at about 10pm.
No deaths were reported.
“The cause of the fire and actual losses at the plant are being assessed,” spokesman Yang Chien-chung (楊建忠) told a news conference in Taipei, adding that there were 200,000 tires at the facility.
The Jhongli plant has an annual output of 3 million tires, of which more than 90 percent are sold to foreign customers, he said.
Damage from the fire could cost the company about NT$300 million in lost revenue each month, because operations have to be suspended, Yang said.
However, some of the losses would be covered by insurance and the impact on the company’s finances and operations would be limited, he said.
Federal said it expects a new plant in Taoyuan’s Guanyin District (觀音) to begin production by the end of the second quarter, which would help make up for lost capacity.
The Guanyin plant would be able to manufacture 3 million tires per year, expanding to 6 million tires in the long term, Yang said.
Federal said it would discuss the resumption of production at the Jhongli plant with the Taoyuan City Government, but did not provide a time line.
However, Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said the city would help Federal relocate the Jhongli plant instead of rebuilding at its current location, citing its proximity to a residential area.
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