Cooper Tire closed its manufacturing plants in Serbia and the United States about five weeks ago. This was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the impacts it had on production. However, last week, the tire manufacturer announced that it would reopen its facilities this week with an aim of ramping up production.
It currently runs one plant in Serbia, which is located in KruĊĦevac. Plants in the U.S. are located in Findlay, Ohio, Clarksdale and Tupelo, Mississippi, and Texarkana, Arkansas. The plant located in Melksham, England will remain temporarily closed.
In its announcement, the company said that it had put in place health and safety procedures that would safeguard its employees. This includes heightened disinfecting and cleaning of equipment, visitor restrictions, social distancing, required employee disclosures, physical barriers, and other measures. These procedures are already being applied in two of its plants located in China which resumed operation in mid-February.
Cooper Tire added that it would have to close its plant in Mexico as the federal government determined it as a non-essential business. The company had successfully reopened the manufacturing plant on April 13. The government of Mexico directed that operations be shut down as of April 28.
Cooper Tire will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation as it prepares to reopen its branches as soon as possible. Some of its distribution centers around the globe will continue to run and sell products to customers.