As it continues to expand and strengthen its industrial core, Continental’s ContiTech announced plans to invest more than $85 million to expand its manufacturing operations in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, strengthening production capabilities across its hose and belt businesses. This is one of many manufacturing expansions the rubber expert has completed in the past year, with expanded belt operations in Brazil and a new hose manufacturing facility in Aquascalientes, Mexico.
The plant expansion includes construction of a state-of-the-art compounding center that will integrate production, warehouse and office operations. It underscores ContiTech’s commitment to delivering high-performance, material-based technologies, with a focus on hoses and belts. This advanced facility will further strengthen ContiTech’s competitiveness and reinforce its position as customer’s first choice for material-driven solutions.
Andreas Gerstenberger, CEO of ContiTech USA and Head of Business Area Industrial Solutions Americas, told Fluid Power World, the move supplements its “in the region, for the region” mission. “The decision to invest over $85 million in our Mount Pleasant, Iowa site is very much aligned with our strategy to strengthen regional manufacturing footprints, improve supply-chain resilience, and bring our state-of-the-art compounding, hose and belt capabilities to better serve our customers,” Gerstenberger said. “By establishing a state-of-the-art compounding center on-site (integrating production, warehouse and office operations) we expect improved control over key rubber compounds and intermediate materials, which in turn helps reduce lead-times, buffer against supply-chain disruptions, and mitigate the risk of cross-border logistics-related bottlenecks.
“That said, this is not a panacea as global raw-material markets and logistics remain dynamic,” Gerstenberger noted. “What this expansion does do is enhance our core competency, flexibility and responsiveness in North America, a very meaningful improvement in our ability to serve customers more reliably and locally.
ContiTech’s Mount Pleasant production facility in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. The site was founded in 1977 and has more than 220 employees. The plant specializes in manufacturing hoses for various applications.
The expansion is expected to create approximately 50 new, high-quality jobs. The Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) Board has approved a package of loan and tax incentives through the IEDA’s High-Quality Jobs program to support the initiative.
“In today’s dynamic economic environment, we are investing in advanced capabilities not only to drive innovation and competitiveness across our industrial product lines, but also to meet the evolving needs of our customers,” said Philip Nelles, Member of the Continental Executive Board and CEO of ContiTech. “This expansion reflects our long-term commitment to the U.S. and the North American markets in general and our confidence in the strength of our team in Iowa. This project also contributes to local economic development, reinforcing our role as a reliable partner to the community we work in and live.”
The new facility will significantly enhance ContiTech’s ability to manufacture essential components, particularly hoses and belts, which play a critical role in supporting reliable flow and total conveyance across a wide range of industrial applications.
Gerstenberger said that the Mount Pleasant facility will serve a broad North American industrial base, and it is not limited to local customers in Iowa. “Our North American network is designed to be integrated and complementary. The Mount Pleasant site is ContiTech’s largest hose manufacturing location in the Americas region,” Gerstenberger said. “For example, we have already launched production at a new “in-the-region” hydraulic-hose facility in Aguascalientes, Mexico, which is explicitly referenced as working in coordination with our Norfolk, Nebraska site to provide production flexibility, complementarity, and responsiveness across the Americas.
“In that context, Mount Pleasant is part of this larger regional manufacturing ecosystem. While the compounding center is located in Iowa, the materials and capabilities developed there will support broader hose and belt manufacturing throughout the Americas, including sites such as Norfolk and Aguascalientes. That said, specific allocation of capacity and flows will be determined by customer demand, product complexity, lead-time requirements, and regional logistics considerations. Our goal is to leverage the network intelligently so that each site plays to its strengths and together they
deliver optimal service.”
Mount Pleasant production facility. The plant is located on a 37-acre property in Mount Pleasant, Iowa.
“At ContiTech, our commitment to customer centricity is foundational, and this expansion enables us to respond more quickly and effectively to our customers’ needs,” said Gerstenberger. “By investing in this facility, we’re not only enhancing our operational capabilities, competitiveness, and supply chain resilience, we are also reinforcing our ability to deliver material-driven solutions. This expansion is a critical part of that process and a key enabler in our vision to become the first choice for our customers.”
ContiTech’s investment in a new compounding center in Mount Pleasant will strengthen its internal compounding capabilities, optimize its North American mixing footprint and support future growth. The facility will feature two state-of-the-art mixing lines integrated with an automated warehouse. The new compounding center will play a central role in ensuring consistent quality and efficiency in the production of rubber-based products. Engineered to withstand high-shear forces and temperatures, the mixers enable thorough integration of ingredients. The result is a compound with uniform physical and chemical properties, ready for downstream processes such as extrusion, molding or calendaring.
“The purpose of the compounding center is to upgrade our mixing capabilities so we can become more competitive and improve productivity to serve the growing demand for our products. Part of the strategy behind the Mount Pleasant investment and the broader regional manufacturing build-out is to allow more specialization, focus and agility in key product lines,”Gerstenberger said. “With strengthened capabilities in Iowa (especially the compounding, mixing and upstream material production) we anticipate that downstream manufacturing sites can be more efficient, and freed to focus on higher-value or more specialized hose solutions.”
Construction is anticipated to begin Q2 2026. The Mount Pleasant site plays a key role in ContiTech’s global supply chain, serving a wide range of industrial customers.
ContiTech
www.continental-industry.com
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