As part of its plan to enter new segments related to their existing core business, Indian tread maker Midas has announced the introduction of a series of niche products for promotion in overseas markets.
Range Expansion for Midas
As part of this move, the company has introduced a range of white/non marking treads for solid tyres for indoor applications such as in forklift tyres.
“This product is primarily for the export market and not available locally,” explained Paulose Varughese, Director, Midas Tread.
According to the Kottayam based tread maker, the white/non marking tread has received acceptability in the international market, specifically in Europe. “Midas white tread has a customised design and offers excellent life, maintaining colour until the end, and is winning accolades among customers based in Europe, said Varughese.”
The company says it has received interesting queries from both Europe and Asia and is already supplying to the German and Portuguese markets as well as to Japan. “Queries from Europe continue to pour in, and soon more consignments are expected to be dispatched to other countries in the region.”
Midas has also commenced production and sales of O-Rings for OTR tyres for rim sizes ranging from 20” to 51”. O-Rings are made with a high-quality natural rubber compound designed to reduce air leakage and increase life. The product is again targeted at the overseas market.
The company’s range of O-Rings made its debut last year and has been exported to Europe and the Middle East. “Response from the international market is good,” said Varughese, “but this is a niche product and has a small market. O-Rings are so far supplied by the OEMs but we are paying attention to the demands of our customer base.”
Midas is also expanding its product range for export markets where it already supplies envelopes, inner-envelopes and curing bags. “These are all niche products and not supplied in huge volumes,” said Varughese.
Meanwhile, Midas new ARCUS precured compound for truck and bus radials is being promoted as having double the tread life compared with previous products and has proved an at-least 8.5% increase in fuel savings after extensive and rigorous lab and long-haul testing. The company says the tread liner is getting popular among its European clientele. The high-mileage compound has been engineered to offer better rolling resistance and wear.
The company has also introduced a Winter Tread M20 for the agricultural sector. The tread, which Midas claims is its most popular winter tread, is now being used in greater numbers on agricultural tyres for winter usage on sizes 405/70R20, 385/65R22.5 and 385/55R22.5.
Currently, Midas is producing 2,000 -2,500 tons of tread liner each month depending on demand, with 10% of the total production shipped to various overseas markets.
