Updated: ZC Rubber acquiring Chinese OTR tire maker

China: China’s biggest tire maker Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) is acquiring off-the-road (OTR) tire maker Tianjin United Tire & Rubber International Co (TUTRIC).

Based in the north east China port city of Tianjin, TUTRIC manufactures the Tianli brand tires and will be integrated as Zhongce Rubber (Tianjin) Co. Ltd, announced ZC Rubber.

Set for completion on 1 April, the deal is valued at $200 million (€181 million), with ZC Rubber planning to invest over $100 million in the acquired facilities over the next five years.

With the expansion, ZC Rubber expects to boost the Tianjon tire maker’s annual revenue seven-fold to $700 million and make it “the second-largest OTR factory in Asia.”

ZC Rubber currently offers products for wheeled loaders, articulated and rigid dump trucks, port applications, underground mines, as well as industrial and forklift operations.

With the acquisition, the group expects to further strengthen its offering with the addition of agricultural tires to its portfolio.

Established in 1985, TUTRIC’s 1,300-employee factory in Tianjin has the capacity to produce: 30,000 sets of all-steel radial engineering tires, 60,000 sets of agricultural radial tires, and 120,000 sets of bias off-road tires per year.

“TUTRIC is the most professional special tire manufacturer in China producing from 6-inch to 63-inch tires with more than 2,000 SKUs in off-highway applications,” said Henry Shen, president of ZC Rubber (Tianjin) Co.

“Zhongce now has one of the largest ranges of agricultural and OTR tires available to our customers,” according to Shen.

ZC Rubber, he added, “has large ambitions with plans to be in the top three global OTR tire manufacturers soon,” added group president Shen Jinrong.

Tire Business contributed to this report