HANGZHOU, China — Zhongce Rubber Group Co. Ltd. (ZC Rubber), the world's No. 9 tire maker, is building a second overseas tire factory, in Indonesia, and is evaluating the possibility of building a plant in Mexico.
"We expect to have tires rolling off the production line by the end of 2024," China's largest tire producer told European Rubber Journal in a Jan. 17 communique.
ZC Rubber did not provide further details about either project, which are part of the tire maker's long-signalled strategy to expand its manufacturing footprint overseas.
ZC Rubber has one overseas factory, a plant in Rayong, Thailand, which opened in 2015, and nine factories in China. The Thai plant is rated now with capacity to produce 11 million units/year of light vehicle, truck/bus, two-wheeler, earthmover and industrial tires.
Citing privacy considerations related to a stalled Initial Public Offering, ZC Rubber did not disclose any details of the Indonesian factory, including where in the country it's being built.
The Hangzhou, China-based company, which reported $4.18 billion in sales in fiscal 2022, has stated on a number of occasions in the past its goal is to become the world's No. 5 tire maker within the decade.
Should the plans for a plant in Mexico come to fruition, ZC Rubber would become the second Chinese tire maker to select that country for a manufacturing base. Sailun Group Co. Ltd. signed a joint-venture agreement in December with Mexico's TD International Holding S.A.P.I. de C.V. for the construction of a car tire plant in León, in the central Mexican state of Guanajuato.
As recently as 2021 the company — which goes to market with the Arisun, Chaoyang, Goodride, Trazano and Westlake brands — floated the idea of a plant in the U.S.
The company recently inaugurated production at "5G digital" facility in Hangzhou dedicated to the production of premium tires.
The new plant — which ZC Rubber refers to as "Future Factory v2.0" — is an "upgraded version" in terms of production technology, automation level and efficiency of a smaller existing "Future Factory v1.0" in Qiantang based on 5G technologies.
