Cooper Tire Temporary Closure

FINDLAY, Ohio – A major southwest Arkansas manufacturer is closing for a few weeks. Cooper Tire & Rubber Company today announced it will temporarily shut down its tire manufacturing facilities in the United States and Mexico to protect the health and safety of employees and respond to market demand that has been impacted by coronavirus. That includes the Texarkana, Arkansas facility.

The process of phasing down production at the plants will begin today and proceed on a rolling schedule over the coming week, with facilities expected to be closed for two to three weeks. Cooper says it will continue to closely monitor the situation and adjust timelines as necessary.

The company is currently assessing plans for its Europe operations. Cooper’s plants in China, which reopened several weeks ago, and have continued to ramp up production, remain in operation.

The company says it is closely monitoring supply chain and product inventory levels and says it believes it currently has sufficient supply of product, and will continue to operate distribution centers until further notice to meet customer needs.

As the coronavirus has continued to spread across the globe, Cooper says it has put in place measures to protect employees and meet the needs of all stakeholders including travel restrictions, remote working, social distancing, additional cleaning and disinfecting of facilities, limited visitor access and other necessary steps, which all remain in effect.