(Africa Trade Research Center) Prior to 2013, Michelin owned the only tire manufacturing plant in Algeria, but the plant closed in 2013. Due to insufficient supply of locally manufactured products, most tire manufacturing companies operating in Algeria choose to import tires and then distribute them through a network of exclusive distributors and wholesalers. Therefore, the Algerian tire market was basically completely dependent on imports before 2018, until the emergence of a new tire manufacturer-"Iris Tyre".
According to the African Trade Research Center, Iris Tyre operates a $250 million fully automated tire factory and produced 1 million passenger car tires in its first year of operation. Iris Tyre mainly supplies the Algerian domestic market, but also exports up to one-third of its total output to the rest of Europe and Africa. Interestingly, the Algerian consumer electronics and home appliance company Eurl Saterex-Iris established the Iris tire factory in Sétif, about 180 miles east of the country’s capital, and was once the site of the Michelin Algeria plant.
Iris Tyre began operations in the spring of 2018. In 2019, the company expects to produce 2 million tires, including passenger car and truck tires, and about 1 million passenger car tires in 2018. "The Algerian market consumes more than 7 million tires each year, and the quality of imported products is generally poor," said Yacine Guidoum, general manager of Eurl Saterex-Iris.
In terms of regional demand, the northern region accounts for more than 60% of Algeria’s total tire demand, and the high demand in this region can be attributed to the large fleets in the region. In terms of market segments, the passenger car tire market is the most important tire segment in Algeria, followed by the commercial vehicle tire market. Therefore, the development of the Algerian tire market is closely related to the development of its automobile industry.
At present, Algeria still does not have a mature automobile manufacturing/assembly industry. French car manufacturer Renault opened its first SKD plant in Algeria in 2014, marking the real start of the Algerian car assembly industry. After that, due to the promotion of Algeria's auto import quota system and investment substitution import policy, Algeria attracted the attention and investment of many international automakers, but industry corruption hindered the full take-off of the auto manufacturing industry, and Volkswagen also announced a temporary suspension at the end of 2019. Manufacturing operations in the Algerian market.
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