Page 57 - IRANRptOct22

Six million tyres produced by Iran in first Persian quarter
when the sanctions regime was first introduced with the creation of the International North South Transport Corridor (INSTC). This long land and sea corridor traverses southern Russia, through the Caspian Sea to Iran and across the vast Iranian plateau to connect with the port of Chabahar and the Persian Gulf. This southern route was often seen as a back-up for Russia if its Western trade routes were cut off.
When they came the sanctions were more extreme than anything the Kremlin was expecting. They have been made worse by “self-sanctioning”, as companies in sectors that have not been sanctioned, including automotive, pulled out anyway for reputational reasons. The Putin administration has been forced to work extra quickly to help revive its faltering economy. As bne IntelliNews reported, sanctions remained a largely Western affair, with most of the rest of the world sitting on the fence, refusing to impose sanctions themselves and maintaining trade ties, even if they are not actively supporting Moscow.
Iran, China and a slew of other secondary countries have said they would pick up the slack where Western firms departed from. China has already seen exports to Russia recover and is Moscow’s biggest trade partner; Iranian brands are largely unknown in Russia, but Iran’s expertise in operating under sanctions has caught Russia’s attention. In particular, the Russians were surprised to see how quickly Iranian car manufacturers were able to reverse engineer parts from Peugeot, Citroen and Renault for their own auto part markets.
Iran produced 5.97mn tyres in the first three months of the current Persian calendar year (March 21 to June 21), Mehr News Agency has reported.
The figure was 1% down on ouput year on year.
Iranian tyre producers develop treads similar to those of international players such as Continental. Brands include Yazd Tire and Barez. Iran stands as one of the largest tyre manufacturers in West Asia. Around 20mn tyres are produced annually in the country.
In terms of produced tyre tonnage, the three-month period saw production of 62,494 tonnes, down 2% y/y. Of that tonnage, 39,083 tonnes was made up of tyres for passenger cars, up 6% y/y.
Light truck tyre output decreased by 18% y/y to 5,620 tonnes. Production of truck and bus tyres fell by 10% y/y to 12,056 tonnes.
The production of tyres for agricultural machinery dropped by 12% y/y to 4,835 tonnes. Tyres used by the road construction and industrial equipment sectors amounted to 900 tonnes in weight, down 20% y/y.
Iran also produced 4,392 tonnes of bicycle and motorcycle tyres in the first Persian calendar year quarter.
Hamidreza Abdolmaleki, head of the Association of Tyre Industry Guilds of Iran was quoted by Mehr as saying he hoped that Iranian tyre companies would enter the Russian market in the near future. Some contracts in this respect were already concluded, he said.
Iranian tyre producers already export product to countries including neighbours Afghanistan, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
Trade officials in Iran report satisfaction that there are no complaints that Iranian tyres are of inferior quality to European ones.
Iran’s Pirozhi Tire brand was launched on the basis of Italian Pirelli designs in conjunction with Iran’s Pars Tire Company.
Barez was launched on the basis of a joint venture with Germany's Continental.
57 IRAN Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com