Cooper Tire to temporarily shut down

TEXARKANA, Ark. — Cooper Tire & Rubber Company announced Saturday that it is temporarily shutting down its tire manufacturing facilities in the United States, including the Texarkana, Arkansas, plant.

The company attributed the shutdown to protecting the health and safety of employees and responding to market demand that has been impacted by the new coronavirus. The phasing down production at the plants will proceed on a rolling schedule over the coming week, according to a news release. The facilities are expected to be closed for two to three weeks.

The company is also 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.

Cooper said it is closely monitoring supply-chain and product-inventory levels as the company focuses on continuing to serve customers.

Cooper believes it has a sufficient supply of product, and will continue to operate distribution centers until further notice.

Cooper said that as the coronavirus has continued to spread across the globe, 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.

Dr. Kenny Haskins, city manager for Texarkana, Arkansas, said he confirms that city officials are aware of the plans of Cooper Tire and remain optimistic.

“We do believe that in a few weeks, the corporation will reassess the situation and make a decision about the plants, the one we have here in Texarkana as well as the others. As a state, we are optimistic about the situation and confident we will get past this as city and as a nation,” he said.