Ground broken for Tire Plant in Sanandaj, Kordestan Province of Iran

Iran: Iran has broken ground on Razi Tire greenfield tyre plant in the western city of Sanandaj in Kordestan Province of Iran. Ganji            brothers, owner of Artawheel Tire in Ardabil province and Yazd Tire, own and run Razi Tire. The plant will produce passenger car-SUV tyres and all-steel light truck tyres. The plant is expected to incur a cost of over USD226 million, for which European and Western Banks are being considered as the most preferred choice for financing the project.

According to Kamran Afshar-Imani, Vice President and Member of the Board of Directors at Razi Tire, “The tyre plant will produce 50,000 metric tons of tyres per year and is expected to commence production in March 2016.”  He further said, “The company is in talks with major European technology and machinery suppliers, including Pirelli & C. S.p.a., HF Tire Tech Group and VMI Epe.”. The ground-breaking ceremony for Razi Tire was attended by Mr. Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, the Industry and Mines Minister and Mr. Reza Norouzzadeh, head of the Industrial Development and Renovation Organisation (IDRO). Razi Industrial owns 81 percent of Razi Tire, while the remaining 19 percent is owned by IDRO.

TechSci Research projects that increasing domestic production of tyres would restrict the penetration of Chinese tyres and would facilitate the Iranian government’s expectations to increase its domestic tyre production capacity by 200,000 tons per year.

The recent report published by TechSci Research, “Iran Tyre Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020” depicts that due to imposition of sanctions in Iran, a majority of the demand for tyres in the country is being met by imports. However, easing of sanctions would lead many foreign tyre brands to commence operations in Iran. It is projected that many global tyre players will establish domestic tyre manufacturing units in order to avoid custom duties, which would allow them to differentiate their product offerings on the basis of price eventually increasing their penetration in Iran.