Egypt and China’s Sailun Group have formalized a landmark $1 billion agreement to build a large-scale tire manufacturing facility within the Ain Sokhna Integrated Zone, under the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone).
The plant will occupy a 350,000 sqm site managed by TEDA Egypt within the SCZone’s Sokhna Integrated Zone, to be constructed in three phases over three years, the first phase—due for completion by 2026—will yield 3 million passenger car tires and 600,000 truck and bus tires annually. Full-scale operation is expected to exceed 10 million tires per year, serving both domestic and export markets.
Founded in 2002 and a leading Chinese tire producer, Sailun operates in China and Vietnam and currently delivers an annual output exceeding 26.6 million Truck & Bus Radial (TBR) tires, 88 million Passenger Car Radial (PCR) tires, and 310,000 tons of Off-the-Road (OTR) tires. Its logistics network spans over 180 countries and regions. The new Egypt facility is positioned to serve as a regional hub for neighboring markets.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly emphasized the facility’s alignment with Egypt’s automotive localization strategy, highlighting the SCZone’s robust infrastructure—roads, tunnels, ports—and favorable incentives as key enablers of foreign direct investment. He cited strong local demand, reflected in Egypt’s heavy reliance on imported tires: in 2023, Egypt imported about $907 million worth of new pneumatic rubber tires (HS 4011), roughly 0.7% of total imports. Momentum carried into 2024, with October 2024 imports of external tires and inner tubes reported at $76.4 million, up 94.5% year over year, signaling sustained demand ahead of new local capacity. The location serves as well as an ideal spot for regional, continental and global markets.
The project comes amid expanding Chinese investment across Egypt in ports, green hydrogen, infrastructure, manufacturing, and industry; notably, monetary cooperation has deepened through the renewal of the CBE–PBOC currency swap in 2023 (RMB 18 billion / EGP 80.7 billion) and a July 2025 MoU to promote local-currency settlements.
