KARACHI: Pakistan has emerged among the top 10 exporters of truck and bus radial (TBR) tyres to key global markets including the United States and Brazil.

Service Long March Tyres Ltd (SLM) has rapidly expanded its international footprint since commencing operations in 2022, recording strong export growth across the US, Brazil and in emerging markets like South Africa and Egypt, says a press release.

SLM is leveraging state-of-the-art Chinese technology to maintain one of the lowest production cost structures among tyre manufacturers in Pakistan, providing the company a strong competitive advantage in international markets and enabling it to export nearly 40 per cent of its truck and bus radial tyre production.

Domestically, Pakistan’s tyre market continues to present significant scale. Annual demand is estimated at around 1.7 million units in the truck and bus segment, alongside approximately seven million units for passenger vehicles. Historically, a large portion of this demand was met through imports, but local manufacturing is increasingly replacing imported volumes.

SLM currently produces approximately 1.6 million TBR tyres annually and plans to expand capacity to two million units by July 2026 and 2.2m units by June 2027. The company holds an estimated 58pc share in the domestic TBR segment.

Published in Dawn, May 15th, 2026