BANGLADESH: Tyre manufacturing awaits a boom with BDT 30 billion investment

Bangladesh is on the verge of becoming a saturated market in tyre manufacturing by next year with the inclusion of some local and foreign conglomerates in the business.

Apex Husain Tyre and Gazi Tyre currently meet 5 percent demand for tyres of big buses and trucks in the country while imports meet the rest. Now Jamuna Group and Meghna Group are all set to enter the market with huge investments and produce more tyres than what the country needs. Their entry will help Bangladesh save around BDT 30 billion a year that it spends for tyre imports and create employment for over 5,000 people, industry players said. GPH Ispat and a few other companies are also planning to go for tyre production.

Jamuna Tyres and Rubber Industries Ltd, a concern of Jamuna Group, has invested over BDT 20 billion to produce tyres for big bus, truck, passenger car and motorcycle. “We will go for commercial production within a few months,” said Salih bin Abubacker, director for technical and manufacturing at Jamuna Tyres. Annually, Jamuna will produce 2.5 million units of tyres, almost enough to meet the country’s total demand.

Meghna Rubber Industries Ltd, a wing of Bangladesh’s largest bicycle tyre and tube manufacturer Meghna Group, is setting up a new BDT 5 billion plant to produce tyres for big buses and trucks. “Bangladesh’s dependence on imported tyres has prompted us to enter the big wheel segment,” said Luthful Bari, director for operations of Meghna Group.

Source: “The Daily Star”, Dhaka; 29 Sept 2019
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)