Bridgestone to hike China tire prices next month

Shanghai, Japan's biggest tire-maker Bridgestone Corp said today that it will raise the prices of its tire products in China's market by 10% starting next month to balance surging raw-material costs. This is the company's second price hike this year. It did not indicate its current prices.

Bridgestone (China) said that tire prices for cars, trucks and buses will increase 7% to 10% in China, according to a corporate statement. The price hikes came after rises of 3% to 5% in March this year after cost-control measures failed to offset skyrocketing prices of raw materials, including crude oil and rubber. In the second quarter of 2008, the costs of crude oil jumped about 40% while that of rubber rose by over 20%, which significantly affected tire production costs.

Bridgestone, which set up its Chinese arm in Shanghai in 2004, now operates four tire manufacturing facilities in China to compete with Michelin and others in this fast-growing auto-making market. It also has a training center, a tire testing ground, and a research and development center in the country.

In late June, Bridgestone announced its plans to lift prices for tires, tubes and flaps sold in Japan beginning in September by between 3% and 10% to alleviate the rising costs of raw materials.