Sumitomo Rubber closing western recent York tire plant and cutting 1,550 jobs

TONAWANDA, N.Y. — Sumitomo Rubber announced Thursday it will close its western recent York tire manufacturing plant and eliminate all 1,550 union and salaried jobs.

The Japan-based business said attempts to control costs, along with investments in the aging facility, had failed to offset mounting financial losses.

“The plant closure is primarily due to overall facility act within the increasingly competitive international tire trade. This challenging selection follows a multi-year analysis of the business’s financial circumstance and general trade conditions,” Sumitomo said in a statement.

Efforts to save the Tonawanda plant, near Buffalo, included trying to discover a buyer for it, the business said, but there were no offers.

Sumitomo had recently invested $140 million in the facility, including $129 million in 2022, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.

The plant opened in 1923. Sumitomo took packed control of it in 2015 after parent business Sumitomo Rubber Industries ended a joint assignment with Ohio-based Goodyear Dunlop Tires North America.

The sudden closure of one of the region’s largest manufacturing operations took elected officials and employees by shock.

“It appears this selection was made by the Japanese owner’s board without any talk with local and state officials about the possibility of closure,” Poloncarz said. “At no point did Sumitomo inquire for any additional assistance to remain in operation, despite the truth we have always supported their efforts to achieve here in Erie County with responsibility incentives and assistance through the Erie County Industrial advancement Agency.”

The business said it was working with United Steelworkers Union Local 135 on severance packages.

Although tire production has ended, overall operations will wind down over the next one to two years, the business said. Production will be transitioned across the business’s existing global footprint.