Ethiopian tire maker initiating local sourcing

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Jan. 6)—Addis Tyre Co. S.C. has succeeded in cultivating rubber trees in southwest Ethopia, the first step in a long-range strategy to become self-sufficient in natural rubber. Addis Tyre, Ethiopia´s only tire manufacturer, plans this year to start tapping trees on a 50-acre trial plantation it has cultivated since 1988, according to Tsegaw Tilaye, Addis Tyre general manager. The company then will start making tires on a trial basis using the locally sourced rubber, he said.