Chinese enterprise to aid Egyptian ministry in building tire factory

CAIRO, Egypt — Egypt's Ministry of Military Production has signed a deal with China's Poly Group Corp. Ltd. to build a passenger tire plant in the country.

With a production capacity of 3 million units a year, the plant will aim to reduce Egypt's dependence on imported tires, according to the ministry, which put the value of imports at $186 million (€167 million) in 2018.

The statement did not provide further details on the financial size or construction timeline of the project.

The deal was signed in light of increasing interest from Cairo in boosting cooperation with Chinese companies and expanding Beijing's investment in Egypt, the ministry added.

Based in Beijing, Poly Group was founded in 1992 and is a Chinese central state-owned enterprise operating in various fields including international trade, engineering services and real estate development.

Within the Ministry of Military Production is a National Organization for Military Production, which supervises 16 factories producing both civilian goods and military products.

The parties did not disclose information pertaining to tire manufacturing technology to be used in the factory, which would be the second tire plant in Egypt, if the project comes to fruition. The existing plant, in Alexandria, is part of Prometeon Tyre Group.

Three years ago, Egyptian vehicle and tire distributor Ghabbour Auto (GB) S.A.E. disclosed plans for a venture into tire manufacturing, but it appears that project hasn't moved forward.