TEHRAN - Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association of Iran’s Rubber and Tire Producers said 80 percent of the country’s needs for tires is met by domestic producers, IRIB reported.

Mohhamdreza Taghi Ganji said there are currently 12 tire factories are active across the country which account for 80 percent of the local market demand.

“Every year, about 30 million tires of all kinds are consumed in the country,” he said.

According to the official, over the last three years, Iranian tire producers have been able to increase production by five percent annually, and supply and demand have reached a balance.

The official noted that the main imported items in this sector are related to the tires of agricultural and mining machines which account for 20 percent of the country’s tire demand.

“25 percent of the raw materials needed in the tire industry are imported. We have a problem with foreign currency allocation to supply raw materials, and since the beginning of the year, no foreign currency allocation has been made by the Central Bank for tire raw materials, but tire importers have received 90 million dollars in foreign currency since the beginning of the year,” he said.

Iran imported $92 million of car tires in the first two months of the current Iranian calendar year (March to May 2024), showing a 76 percent growth compared to the same period last year, a report said.

The report put the total value of the car tires imported into the country in the first two months of the previous Iranian calendar year (March to May 22, 2023) at over $52 million,

The import of tires in the first two months of the current Persian calendar year (started March 21, 2024) indicated an 89 percent growth in terms of weight compared to last year's corresponding period, the report added.

The tire industry has a 60-year history in Iran. Currently, 11 tire manufacturing companies are active across the country that produce tires for passenger cars, trucks, buses, vans, road construction, and agriculture machinery, as well as bicycles and motorcycles in addition to other types of tubes.

Some 15,000 people are directly employed in this industry and more than 250,000 people are indirectly involved in the value chain of this industry.

The Iranian tire industry, despite the continuation of sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic conditions, as well as some domestic restrictions, has been following a thriving and successful path over the past few years.

In addition to the successes achieved in terms of the output amount, Iranian tire manufacturers have entered new areas including production of the wide-base tires and the tires of SUVs.

Wide base tires, which are a new generation of heavy vehicle tires, have been produced for the first time in West Asia by Iranian producers.

EF/