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WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) issued 13 new tire plant identification codes in the past year for tire factories worldwide, including six in China and two — perhaps in error — to retreaders.
These additions expand the list of tire plant IDs to 1,088, although 85 of these are assigned to factories that are closed/no longer exist and 25 to facilities that don't make tires.
There also are at least 50 to 60 factories worldwide with two or more distinct "original" two-place codes, leaving roughly 900 factories worldwide that are considered "active."
The 13 codes issued was down from 22 issued in 2019.
Among the new codes are ones for factories in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam opened by Chinese tire makers — Maxtrek Tyre Manufacturing Malaysia Sdn. Bhd.; Prinx Chengshan Tire (Thailand) Co. Ltd. and Advance Tyre (Vietnam) Co. Ltd. — as well as for Pyramids Tires, a new venture that started operations in late 2020 in Port Said, Egypt.