Agricultural tyres: Can Asia reshape farm equipment markets?

Indian Agricultural Tyres Capture Half of Norwegian Market

India has seized the dominant position in Norway's agricultural tyre market, commanding 49.9% of imports as farmers and machinery makers across Scandinavia demand supplies from the world's seventh-largest rubber manufacturer. Shipments reached $10.7 million in 2025, marking a 14.2% year-on-year increase — a significant performance when competitors from Finland, China, France, and Vietnam combined hold just half India's market share.

The data tells a story of Indian manufacturing competence meeting European demand at precisely the moment when Nordic farm equipment makers need reliable, cost-competitive pneumatic tyres for tractors, harvesters, and forestry machinery. Apollo Tyres, an international tyre major with manufacturing units in India, the Netherlands and Hungary, operates as a dual-continent player, reinforcing India's position as a cornerstone supplier to Europe's agricultural base. Apollo caters to 100+ countries with 181 offices and six manufacturing units—four in India and one in the Netherlands and Hungary.

When Norwegian Machinery Meets Indian Rubber

The competitive landscape reveals a clear hierarchy. Finland ranks second at 17.6% market share, China third at 12.1%, with France and Vietnam distant followers. That concentration — India supplying nearly one tyre in two that crosses Norway's borders for agricultural use — reflects both manufacturing efficiency and quality compliance that European buyers have come to expect from Indian producers.

Indian tyre brands are becoming some of the most in-demand alternatives as the European market continues to demand safe, reliable, and cost-effective tyre solutions, with tighter regulations, rising anti-dumping measures on certain Asian imports, and improved ECE compliance from Indian factories marking 2025 as a tipping point.

MRF, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, is the largest tyre manufacturer in India and ranks among the top 20 globally. CEAT Specialty strengthens its premium market presence in Europe through the fitment of its high-end Farmax agricultural tires on AGCO's Massey Ferguson tractors, a leading name in the global agricultural machinery market. Both firms engineer solutions for the exact equipment models that Norwegian farmers operate — heavy-duty machinery that demands tyres capable of sustained performance across soft soil, rocky terrain, and road transit.

The momentum reflects broader Indian export success. Indian tire exports reached a record INR273 billion (€2.47 billion) in fiscal year 2025-26, rising 9% from INR250.6 billion reported the previous year, according to India's Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA). Norway's $10.7 million market represents one thread in a much larger tapestry — yet it demonstrates India's capacity to dominate niche export corridors where tariff terms, manufacturing scale, and technical capability converge.

Jobs and Livelihoods Across Kerala and Tamil Nadu

Behind the export figures lie thousands of Indian workers in two critical industrial clusters: Kottayam, Kerala and Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The rubber sector in India employs approximately 1.04 million workers, with 75% involvement from micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) — the backbone of tyre production. Women comprise roughly 20% of the rubber sector workforce, concentrated in assembly, quality control, and ancillary operations.

Using the employment multiplier for rubber manufacturing — 6 direct jobs and 12 indirect jobs per 100,000 units of output — the $10.7 million export flow to Norway supports an estimated 64 direct manufacturing jobs in Kerala's tyre factories and spinning mills, with an additional 128 indirect jobs across transport, warehousing, and distribution networks in both states. These are not abstract metrics: they represent production-line workers in Kottayam's rubber corridor, logistics coordinators in Chennai, and the supply-chain artisans who feed India's export machine.

MSME participation here is substantial. Small tyre retreading units across Kerala, family-run rubber goods shops in Chennai's Ranipet cluster, and mid-sized component suppliers across both states collectively feed the larger manufacturers' export pipelines. When MRF or Apollo ship a container to Oslo or Bergen, that shipment has touched hands in at least three or four Indian states — testing labs, custom brokers, transport depots — each transaction creating micro-economic momentum in towns that depend on rubber manufacturing for survival.

Women's employment remains concentrated in lower-wage assembly roles: tyre curing, bead-winding, and surface finishing. At roughly 20% of sector jobs, women workers in Kottayam and Chennai's rubber factories represent a growing but still underutilized demographic. Export growth directly increases hiring in these roles — an effect visible in job postings across Kerala's industrial zones as capacity utilisation climbs.

Zero-Duty Access Reshapes Supply Economics

Tariff policy undergirds this success. Indian agricultural tyres enter Norway with zero customs duty — a structural advantage that prices Indian supplies competitively against both European and other Asian competitors. India's tire industry is set to gain a competitive edge in the UK market following the signing of the India–UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), with all import duties on tires and rubber products exported from India to the UK eliminated immediately. Similar tariff concessions apply across Europe, making Indian supply chains economically attractive to Nordic equipment makers managing tight procurement budgets.

The structural economics are plain: India ranks seventh globally in rubber production, commanding cost advantages that permit exports at competitive price points while maintaining 14% year-on-year growth. When a Norwegian tractor manufacturer sources replacement tyres or a farmer upgrades to radial equipment, Indian suppliers increasingly feature in the procurement decision — not as secondary options but as primary suppliers with certified quality and proven durability records.

This trade corridor is unlikely to narrow. India's capacity to expand output, coupled with consistent ECE compliance and product innovation in agricultural specifications, positions the country as a durable partner for Nordic markets through the 2020s. For thousands of workers across Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the figures on trade ledgers translate directly into wages, job security, and livelihoods sustained by European demand for Indian-made agricultural tyres.