China’s Aeolus Tyre has revealed plans to invest almost US$400 million to build a plant in Egypt, to expand its overseas market presence.
To be sited in Alexandria, the new plant will have a capacity of 1.5 million truck/bus tyres/year plus 30,000 tyres each for engineering and agricultural vehicles each year.
Construction is expected to take about 20 months. Some of the project land will come from idle plots at an existing factory owned by partner Prometeon Tyre Egypt, with the rest to be acquired from surrounding land, according to the announcement.
A subsidiary Aeolus Tyre will set up in China’s Hainan province will have a 98% stake in a new Egyptian joint venture that will oversee the factory’s investment, construction, and running. Prometeon Tyre Egypt and China National Rubber International, the Chinese firm’s partners, will own the rest.
Prometeon Tyre Egypt is a subsidiary of Prometeon Tyre Group, which emerged from Pirelli’s industrial tyre spin-off in 2018. Prometeon Tyre is now controlled by China National Tire and Rubber, which is also the controlling shareholder of Aeolus Tyre.
Aeolus Tyre said a production base in Egypt will enable the company to leverage its strengths in the industrial tyre business, optimise its global capacity layout, deepen business synergies with Prometeon Tyre, and enhance its overall competitiveness in the global market.
Aeolus Tyre’s export revenue reached CNY3.4 billion last year, accounting for 47% of its total. Its products are exported to more than 100 countries and regions in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.