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THE STATE
OF RETREADING
IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Southeast Asia is a complex region with massively varying approaches to trade and industry. Thailand is a significant exporter in all areas of the automotive industry, and tyres are no exception; 9% of all European tyres come from Thailand. Indonesia has a vast, relatively protectionist internal market that is self-sustaining due to import barriers.
This means that international tyre manufacturers must set up local entities that benefit the local economy in job creation and using local natural resources. Vietnam is becoming a pro- duction and export powerhouse as many companies look at different options to manufacturing in China. All of the large global tyre manufacturers have a presence in these countries. In the Philippines, the government-backed ‘Build, Build, Build’ programme has created a vast need for commercial vehicles,
an increase of 46% in 2022 alone, meaning massively more tyre consumption and a focus on producing products locally, using local natural resources. Malaysia bucks this trend and is heavily reliant on imports. As a result, it has little tyre ma- nufacturing locally, with Goodyear recently closing one of its plants after 52 years of operation. Due to its size, Singapore is not a large producer of tyres, but it hosts several head offices for tyre manufacturers, including the local Giti Tires. We have
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