A Bridgestone tyre is displayed at the 84th Geneva International Motor Show in Switzerland. The world’s largest tyremaker will postpone the start of production at a new plant in Thailand as demand ebbs.

Bloomberg/Bangkok

Bridgestone Corp, the world’s largest tyremaker, will postpone the start of production at a new tyre plant in Thailand as demand ebbs, adding to companies postponing expansion in the Southeast Asian country.

The company is delaying output at the factory for specialty tyres because global demand for coal-mining vehicles is less than it had expected, chief executive officer Masaaki Tsuya said in an interview on Sunday. The company will announce a new output start date “when demand comes back,” he said.

Bridgestone has been adding capacity for construction and mining vehicle tyres because they have a higher profit margin, Tsuya said. Honda Motor Co in April said it would delay building its third Thai plant by six months because of political unrest in the country.

“It will take some time before mining-vehicle tyre demand heats up,” Tsuya said. The coup and political turmoil in Thailand hasn’t affected the planned timing of production and the company’s three existing factories in the country are running as usual, he said.

The company still expects net income to surge 41% this fiscal year to a record ¥285bn ($2.8bn) as rubber prices near a five-year low hold down costs.

Appetite for mining and construction vehicles is slumping as a coal glut drags prices to almost five-year lows. Glencore Xstrata Plc said it would stop production from its Ravensworth mine in Australia. Walter Energy Inc said the company would immediately idle output at its Wolverine mine and suspend its Brule project by July.

Bridgestone’s new plant for mining-vehicle tires was scheduled to begin production in the first half of 2015, with a planned capacity of 85 tonnes per day by the first half of 2019.