Based in Sétif, located about 180 miles east of Algiers, Iris Tyre is founded by Algerian consumer electronics and household appliances group Eurl Saterex-Iris. It is the first tyre factory in Algeria since Michelin Group closed its plant in the capital in 2013. Total investment is around $250 million to $300 million. It is a state-of-the-art, fully automated plant. Finnish automation specialist Cimcorp Oy supplied its Dream Factory concept and installed the best logistics technology currently available for the new plant.
“The Algerian market consumes more than 7 million tyres a year and the products currently imported are generally of poor quality. This represents a fantastic opportunity to repeat our manufacturing success in another sector. As well as producing locally-branded tyres to meet Algerian demand. We will be exporting about a third of our output to European and African markets” said Yacine Guidoum, Managing Director of Eurl Saterex-Iris. The new facility, which is the largest tyre-manufacturing plant in Africa, is operational since Spring 2018 and production of 1 million passenger car radial (PCR) tyres is planned for the first year, followed by 2 million units of both PCR and truck and bus (TBR) tyres in the second year.
“We are very honoured to have Iris pick China International Tire Expo (CITEXPO) to demonstrate its new, high-quality products to not only Chinese distributors, but also importers from around 110 countries. It showed that our show is one of the best platforms for up-and-coming new brands to gain quick access and publicity to the worldwide market” says Sam Lai, International Marketing Manager of CITEXPO organizer, Reliable International Exhibition Services.”