Saudi Arabia’s Mena Tyre Company received bids on 10 April for a contract to build an estimated $550m tyre manufacturing plant in King Abdullah Economic City (KAEC). Mena Tyre Company is a joint venture of the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Italian tyre maker Pirelli Tyre. PIF holds a 75% stake in the venture, with Pirelli holding the remaining 25%. The tender notice was issued in December last year. The plant is expected to start production in 2026. It will make tyres for passenger vehicles under the Pirelli brand. It will also manufacture and market tyres under a new local brand targeting the domestic and regional markets. The plant is expected to have the capacity to produce 3.5 million tyres a year. In March, PIF and Pirelli Tyre had tendered the contract to build an estimated $550m tyre manufacturing plant in KAEC. UK-based firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) is the project consultant. The project is located within the King Salman Automotive Cluster of KAEC, which was officially announced on 6 February by Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The move was the latest sign of the kingdom’s push to become a dominant player in the Gulf’s automotive sector. It follows heavy investment over recent years in infrastructure, supply chain development and research to attract global automakers to Saudi Arabia and create an ecosystem for electric vehicle (EV) production in particular – all driven by the Saudi Vision 2030 mandate to diversify the economy. The cluster is expected to be a major contributor to the National Industrial Development and Logistics Programme (NIDLP), which aims to develop high-growth sectors locally and attract foreign investment. Several schemes catering to the NIDLP have made significant progress in recent years, including multibillion-dollar EV manufacturing plants backed by PIF, such as assembly facilities for US-based Lucid Motors and Ceer, the kingdom’s first homegrown EV brand, launched by PIF in collaboration with Taiwan’s Foxconn. These facilities are supported by the National Automotive & Mobility Investment Company (Tasaru Mobility Investments), which PIF established in 2023 to develop the kingdom’s local supply chain capabilities for the automotive and mobility industries. PIF then signed several agreements with international companies, including the South Korean car makers Hyundai and Pirelli, to establish production facilities in the KAEC automotive cluster. (ICE RIYADH)

Fonte notizia: Meed