Chinese tire maker Haohua advances $500m plant in Vietnam

Binh Phuoc, Vietnam – Vietnam’s southern Binh Phuoc province has awarded an “investment registration certificate” to Haohua tire factory project (Vietnam) for a $500 million (€465 million) production plant.

To be built in Minh Hung Sikico Industrial Park, to the east of Binh Phuoc province, the facility will span a total area of 43 hectares, announced the local provincial authority in an 11 Sept ceremony.

Construction work on the site is set to start in the first quarter of 2024, after completing investment preparation procedures, the authority added.

Set for completion in the third quarter of 2025, the plant will have the capacity to produce 12 million units of semi-steel radial passenger car tires and 2.4 million units of all-steel commercial tires.

The annual output value of the project is expected to reach $770 million, with the potential to create 1,600 local jobs and 200 “foreign jobs”, said the Vietnamese-language statement.

According to the local authorities, once fully operational, the facility will consume over 120 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of natural and synthetic rubbers.

A large bulk of the rubber – 96.5ktpa – will be supplied from Vietnam while the remainder will be imported from China.

Shandong Haohua Tyre Group has three plants in China with an overall nameplate capacity of 5 million truck and bus tires and 20 million passenger car tires each year.

With total sales of $909 million in 2022, the tire maker is ranked 10th among Chinese manufacturers.

Furthermore, the company is advancing an ‘export-orientated’ substantial tire project in Hambantota, Sri Lanka.

Launched in 2020, the plant is currently undergoing phase II of construction according to Chinese media.

The facility will be ultimately having a capacity to produce 3 million truck and bus tires and 17 million passenger car tires, Haohua told ERJ in 2020.

Phase I of the project involved an annual capacity to produce 1.5 million units of truck/bus tire and 7.5 million units of passenger car tires.