On June 17, Sailun Tire announced that in combination with global industry development trends and corporate international development strategies, the company plans to invest in the “Egyptian Tire Production Capacity Improvement Project” with a total investment of US$1.141 billion.
This is Sailun’s third large-scale tire manufacturing investment in Egypt in less than a year. After the completion of the project, Sailun Tire will form a complete production capacity matrix in Egypt with an annual output of 36 million semi-steel radial tires, 3.3 million all-steel radial tires and 20,000 tons of off-highway tires. The production capacity of the North African manufacturing hub will achieve an order of magnitude jump.
The construction site of this project is located in the Suez Canal Special Economic Zone in Suez Province, Egypt. The total investment of US$1.141 billion includes US$1.09 billion in construction investment, US$42.1 million in pre-existing working capital, and US$9.19 million in interest during the construction period.
The construction content covers the annual production of 27 million semi-steel radial tires, 1.65 million all-steel radial tires and 20,000 tons of off-highway tires.
At the specific operational level, Sailun Tire adopts a strategy of division of labor and cooperation between two major entities: the part with an annual output of 9 million semi-steel radial tires is constructed by the previously established wholly-owned subsidiary Shams El Sherouk, with a total investment of US$227 million and a construction period of 15 months; the company has established a new wholly-owned subsidiary Senro
Tire will undertake the remaining 18 million semi-steel tires, 1.65 million all-steel tires and 20,000 tons of off-highway tire production capacity, with a total investment of US$914 million and a construction period of 24 months.
According to disclosures, the funds required for the project are planned to be provided by self-raised funds (including self-owned funds) and borrowing from financial institutions.
According to the feasibility analysis, after the completion of the Egyptian production capacity improvement project, it is expected to add US$1.161 billion in annual operating income and an average annual net profit of US$170 million to the company. Relying on Egypt’s new production capacity, the company can further tap overseas market opportunities and effectively ensure the continued growth of product production and sales.
Sailun Tire continues to increase its overseas production capacity, and there is a profound industry logic behind it.
Looking around the world, the top ten leading companies in the tire industry are all multinational groups. The global deployment of factories in multiple locations, large-scale transnational operations, and group-based coordinated development have become the mainstream development directions of the industry.
At the same time, the world’s tire manufacturing center continues to shift to Asia, and the market competition faced by my country’s tire companies has further intensified. Building factories overseas and diversifying production capacity layout have become necessary for companies to hedge against the competitive pressure of the local market.
As a pioneer in the globalization of the domestic tire industry, Sailun Tire was founded in 2002 and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange in 2011. After more than 20 years of development, it has formed a full series of product systems for car tires, truck tires, and off-road tires. The independently developed 63-inch giant engineering radial tires have reached the international leading level, and it has become the first Chinese tire brand to enter the FIA event supply chain.
Judging from operating data, Sailun’s globalization strategy has achieved remarkable results: the company will achieve revenue of 36.792 billion yuan in 2025, and tire production and sales as well as domestic and overseas revenue have both reached record highs.
As the first domestic tire company to build factories overseas, Sailun currently has nine production bases in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Mexico, with three more factories under construction. It has simultaneously built four major R&D centers covering China, America, Europe, and Southeast Asia, and its products are exported to more than 180 countries and regions around the world.
In 2025, the company’s overseas main business revenue will reach 28.226 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 18.54%, and the proportion of overseas revenue will climb to 76.72%. Overseas markets have become the core pillar supporting the company’s performance growth.
For Sailun, continuing to increase overseas investment is also an inevitable choice to match its own business structure. More than 70% of the company’s revenue comes from overseas, and a large number of overseas customers have put forward higher requirements for localized supply and fast delivery.
In August 2025, the company invested US$291 million to launch a radial tire project in Egypt with an annual output of 3.6 million units; in April 2026, it increased its investment again and invested US$285 million to expand the radial tire production line with an annual output of 7.05 million units.
Having settled three times in just one year, Egypt’s core attraction stems from its unique location conditions and vast market space: Sailun has now completed the layout of manufacturing bases in Southeast Asia and the Americas, and Egypt, located at the junction of Asia, Africa and Europe, has become a key puzzle to open up the European and African markets.
As the third largest automobile market in Africa, Egypt has an obvious gap in local tire production capacity, and import demand has been rising year after year. In 2024, local passenger car semi-steel radial tire imports will be 7.3833 million units, a year-on-year increase of 22.44%; truck and bus all-steel radial tires will be imported 4.0146 million units, a year-on-year increase of 11.86%; non-highway tire imports have increased simultaneously, and the import data of all three types of tires have increased across the board. Local rigid market demand will provide stable support for the long-term operation of the project.
It is worth noting that although companies continue to increase their overseas production capacity, their key functions such as R&D centers and headquarters management are still rooted in the local area. As globalization continues to deepen, the demand for high-end management talents, technology R&D talents, etc. in the headquarters will continue to grow, which will also drive the improvement of domestic related industrial ecology.
At present, “going global” has become an industry trend for tire companies. Since this year, many listed tire companies have accelerated the pace of building overseas factories, with North Africa and Southeast Asia becoming the core locations. As a pioneer and the largest layout player of overseas production capacity, Sailun Tire’s globalization path will also provide a reference sample for the internationalization of China’s tire industry.
