TANGIER, Morocco — Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd. has started pre-commercial-scale production at its tire plant in Tangier, in northwest Morocco, 16 months after breaking ground on the $490 million facility.
Commercial-scale manufacturing is set for next year, Sentury reported in a third-quarter results statement. Output in 2025 is expected to reach 6 million to 8 million car and light truck tires per year, Sentury stated.
Once up and running at its rated capacity, the plant will supplement output from Sentury factories in Thailand and China and will help support the company's current "strong orders," the firm said. A Phase II investment should boost capacity to 12 million units a year.
A video posted by Sentury shows images of a highly automated factory.
In addition, Sentury — considered the No. 29 tire maker worldwide based on fiscal 2023 sales revenue of $1.1 billion — is progressing with plans for a third overseas unit, in Galicia, Spain, with capacity to produce 12 million light vehicle tires a year.
That project, according to Sentury, has obtained environmental impact assessment approval from the Spanish government and is awaiting further pre-construction permits.
Sentury unveiled the Spanish project in December 2021, under its "833Plus" strategy to build eight "intelligent tire manufacturing bases" worldwide over a decade, comprising three plants in China, two in Thailand, and one each in Europe, Africa and North America, along with research/development centers in China, Europe and North America.
Sentury's existing manufacturing footprint comprises a plant in Jimi, Shandong, China, rated at 15 million car and light truck tires a year and a factory in Rayong, Thailand, with a capacity of 10 million units/year.
Sentury is represented in the U.S. by Sentury Tire USA, a subsidiary in Hialeah, Fla. It goes to market under the Delinte, Groundspeed, Landsail and Sentury brand names.
Qingdao Sentury pursued a plan to build a plant in the U.S., in LaGrange, Ga., for three years before declaring the project "on hold" indefinitely in 2019.
