Sumitomo's Shirakawa plant resumes production after Japan quake and offers relief aid to community

March 24, 2011 - PRLog -- The operations had been suspended since the earthquake and tsunami that hit northern Japan on March 11th. In parallel, the company has announced a relief package of 200 million Yen, including the production of 100 million Yen of urgently needed supplies to support communities affected by the devastating earthquake and tsunami in the Tohoku Pacific Region.

As previously confirmed, the factory was safe and there was no serious damage to the facilities and equipment. SRI employees have been working hard to restart the operations and on Tuesday March 22nd  the company resumed production of passenger car and light truck tyres in limited sizes. SRI expects to produce truck and bus tyres by the end of this week.  The production quantity will be increased gradually, depending on power supply, distribution, material procurement and other circumstances.

Following its own experiences of the earthquake and witnessing the disruption caused, SRI has announced a comprehensive relief package totalling 200 million Yen. It will include producing crucial supplies that are urgently needed such as gloves, wheelchair ramps and gas pipes for temporary housing. SRI offers this crucial equipment to provide support for the communities devastated by the terrible events in the Tohoku region.


Profile of Shirakawa Factory (as of end-2010)

Location:      Shirakawa City, Fukushima Prefecture  
Employees:   1,581
Start of Operations:   1974
Products:      Automotive tyres
Production Capacity:   10,350 tons/month (new rubber consumption)
Site Area:      604,000 m2