ZC Rubber building plant in Indonesia; eyeing Mexico

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.