Rolling Plus signs deal with Egypt to set $1bln tire factory in SCZONE

Rolling Plus Chemical Industries will set up in Egypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone a factory to produce tires with a total investment of above $1 billion, as part of the North African country’s automotive strategy aiming at developing the local car industry in order for the country to become a regional manufacturing hub.

Rolling Plus CEO John Barakat signed the deal with Main Development Co. Managing Director Abdul Nasser Rafai in the presence of Egypt’s Premier Mostafa Madbouly and Suez Canal Economic Zone Chairman Walid Gamal El-Din. The future plant will cover an area of 400,000 square meters and its construction will go through three phases.

The first phase will involve the construction of the factory and production lines for passenger car tires, with a capacity of 2.5 million tires annually. The second phase will focus on the production of light commercial vehicles, with an annual capacity of 3.5 million tires, addressing 40 percent of the domestic market.

The last phase will see the production capacity increase to 7 million tires, with the addition of heavy commercial vehicle tire manufacturing. Finnish tire consulting firm Black Donuts will act as a technical consultant on the project.

The project will create 1,000 jobs. “The significance of this project lies in the localization of the tire industry, especially with the presence of a technical partner, the Finnish company “Black Donuts,” which will provide all technical consultations for the project’s designs from its inception to tire manufacturing and its stages,” El-Din.