Qingdao Sentury Tire Co. Ltd. has received the regulatory approval to invest US$296.78 million in the construction of its previously announced Morocco tyre manufacturing project. The “Certificate of Overseas Investment of Enterprises” was issued by the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Commerce on 5 June 2023 and is valid for two years.
On 13 June, Qingdao-based tyre manufacturer Sentury announced that it had supplied products to Nokian Tyres in the first quarter of 2023. Writing in a stock exchange filing, Sentury representatives specified that the company has delivered Nokian-branded winter tyres. Sentury said that “the supply will continue in the second quarter” and the current cooperation with Nokian is “good”.
While Sentury recently confirmed it is investing in a factory across the Mediterranean in Morocco, on 27 March 2023 officials once again confirmed that the Spain factory is set to begin construction this year. In addition, at the same time, executives agreed to prioritise the employment of ex-Endesa workers when the local power station closes. Indeed, the mayor of Las Pontes, Valentín González Formoso, and Qin Long, president of Sentury Tire, signed an agreement to that effect.
On 3 March, Sentury purchased 20 hectares of land for the company’s Morocco tyre factory project. Lin Wenlong, general manager of the tyre manufacturer, formally signed a land purchase agreement with the company in charge of the Tangier Tech City project. According to various reports, Sentury will use this piece of land located in Mohammed VI Tangier Tech City to build a factory in Morocco. The project is scheduled to start construction in July 2023 ahead of an 18-month construction period.
Sentury Tire confirms that Xu Huashan no longer holds the positions of chief financial officer and director within the company. The decision to dismiss Ms Xu was taken during a meeting of Sentury’s Board of Directors on 20 February.
Following the departure of Sentury’s Spain factory project’s general manager, Warren Rudman, Sentury’s senior executives have taken up the reins of Sentury Tire (Spain), according to local business publication Economia Digital Galicia.
Sentury’s revenue and net profit in 2022 increased year-on-year. The tyre manufacturer’s annual report shows that last year’s revenue was 6.29 billion yuan (about £760 million; €860 million), an increase of 21.53 per cent. Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 800 million yuan (approximately £97 million; €1.1 billion), an increase of 6.3 per cent.
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On 17 January, Sentury said it will adjust its financing plan through the stock market and specifically non-public offering of shares. After the adjustment, the tyre manufacturer will obtain no more than 2.8 billion yuan (about £330 million; 380 million euros), which is far lower than the 4 billion yuan (about £480 million; 540 million euros) proposed in the previous plan.
On 2 January 2023, Warren Rudman left his role as general manager Sentury Tire Spain. Rudman’s departure follows Sentury’s 30 December announcement that the company is planning to invest in a new tyre factory in Morocco. Signing off his departure announcement, Rudman noted “I will start a new journey soon”.
On 30 December 2022, Sentury Tire shared that the company convened a board meeting to approve the “Proposal on Investing in the Construction of High-Performance Car and Light Truck Radial Tire Projects in Morocco”. In other words, the company is planning to build its third overseas factory just outside Morocco, North Africa in what will be the first Chinese tyre factory in Africa. Sentury plans to invest just under US$296.78 million in constructing the Morocco tyre plant, which is set to have a production capacity is 6 million car and light-truck tyres a year.
On December 10, Sentury announced that the Public Security Bureau of Danzhou City, Hainan Province is investigating Xu Huashan, director and chief financial officer. The tyre manufacturer said the investigation relates to Xu Huashan’s work prior to her appointment at Sentury, and that it will not significantly or adversely impact Sentury’s daily business decisions and operations. It is reported that Sentury has arranged for director and general manager Lin Wenlong to perform the duties of the CFO.
Based on stock market reporting for the third quarter of 2022, the top nine Chinese listed tyre companies ranked by revenue are Sailun, Linglong, Triangle, Huayi (the holding company of Double Coin), Guizhou Tyre, Sentury, Aeolus, Jiangsu General, and Doublestar. (The leading Chinese tyre company according to Tyrepress global rankings is ZC Rubber (Hangzhou Zhongce), but it is not listed.) The figures show that Sailun has completed a meteoric rise this year to become the Chinese tyre industry’s stock market leader, with an income of more than 6 billion yuan in the quarter, putting it within reach of the global top 10 tyre manufacturers.
At the end of October, several listed companies, including Linglong, Triangle, Sailun, Aeolus, Jiangsu General, Guizhou Tyre (Advance), Doulestar and Sentury, released their operating results for the third quarter. In the third quarter, Linglong produced 17,015,900 tyres and sold 16,623,600 tyres, with a revenue of about 4.37 billion yuan (about 520 million pounds, 600 million euros) and a net profit of about 110 million yuan (about 13.1 million pounds, 15.22 million euros).
At the end of 2021, Sentury Tire announced that it is planning to build a half-a-billion-euro tyre factory in the Galicia region of Spain. 10 months down the line, is the Sentury Spain factory still going ahead as planned? The short answer is yes and the project is designed to be powered by wind energy. Tyres & Accessories spoke to Warren Rudman, general manager Sentury Tire (Spain) S.L. in order to find out more.
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