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SRI LANKA
Pieris Tyre Company. Richard Pieris' five retreading units are spread all over Sri Lanka, and retread an incredible 55,000 tyres per month and control an almost 60 per cent share of the Sri Lankan retreading industry. “We retread around 42,000 – 44,000 tyres by the precure version and another 15,000 by the traditional hot cure process,” added Pradeep. Richard Pieris is the market leader and pioneer in the tyre retreading industry of Sri Lanka. The company is also regarded as the largest retreader of tyres in the whole of South Asia. Richard Pieris & Company was established in 1932 and embarked on its first manufacturing operation in the second world war, in 1942. The company entered into collaboration with Bandag to commence precure tyre retreading for the first time in Sri Lanka, introducing the revolutionary ‘Arpidag’ brand in the Island nation. Over the years, Richard Pieris diversified into trading of new tyres such as Birla, Casumina and Corsa and become their sole dealers in Sri Lanka. Now, the firm has the largest tyre dealership in Sri Lanka, having around 1,300 dealers spread all over the country.
Richard Pieris' Navina plant is located in the East of Colombo and retreads, by both processes - around 15,000 tyres by the precure process and around 8,000 to 10,000 tyres by the hot process. The second plant in Kurunegala, capital of the North Western Province of Sri Lanka, retreads 10,000 tyres per month by the precure process. Kurunegala is the capital of the North Western Province, a busy commercial and transport hub with some of the country’s leading roads passing through the town. The city is around 94 km away from Colombo. The Welligama plant is situated on Sri Lanka's picturesque South Coast, again retreading between 8,000 to 10,000 tyres every month. The fourth plant can be found in Sri Lanka’s most scenic city - Kandy, in the centre of the country, retreading around 8,000 tyres by the cold process and around 3,000 by the hot version.
When asked about the retreading of OTR tyres, Pradeep said, “We are doing a small amount of OTR tyres but we are looking it at as a future development.” The company’s tread making plant at Navina has the capacity to manufacture 400-450 tonnes of tread per month exclusively to cater for its own retreading plants. Replying to a question over expansion of the tread making capacity, Pradeep responded, “We have no plans to increase the tread making capacity in the near future, the present capacity is enough to fulfil our requirements.”
Meanwhile, this major player in the Sri Lankan retreading industry is gearing itself to meet the challenge of retreading radial tyres in a market which used to be a major bias-ply market. “The market is in the transitory phase moving out of the bias-ply into radials. It is going to be a major challenge for the whole retreading industry of Sri Lanka. We have to see how the domestic industry will respond to this new challenge. We are gearing up for the challenge and have already introduced a couple of radial tread patterns. We have received an
encouraging response from the market,” explained Pradeep. The company is a dealer of tyres like Birla and Casumina and it has launched radial patterns compatible with the tyre range available at its dealerships across the country.
The Northern Province has attracted a lot of interest amongst the Sri Lankan business community as it is among the areas that are witnessing commercial development after the culmination of the Tamil Tiger uprising. But retreading is at very early stages with only one plant operational in the region. “People in the Northern Province have not much idea about retreading and they prefer to have new tyres instead of getting tyres retreaded. The province was closed for a long time and now it is open and demand for retreading may come up in the future,” said Pradeep. Currently, tyres are being collected and brought to other provinces where
there are retreading plants. “We have plans to open a factory in the Northern Province in Jaffna in the future. But in the meantime the market can be served by our Kurunegala unit,” stated Pradeep.
Richard Pieris has another plant prepared in the Central part of the country at Polonnaruwa, the second largest city in the North Central Province. It is an ancient city and it has been declared as a world heritage site by UNESCO. “We have a factory in Polonnaruwa but were forced to close down due to the war. We could open it again anytime once we have realised enough demand from Jaffna. We could also cater for Jaffna from the Polonnaruwa unit in future,” Pradeep confided. Richard Pieris operates its retreading operations on either the Bandag, or Coimbatore based Rajmahaal machinery.
Berwin Industrial Polymers Ltd
Retreading Materials
Advantage retreading materials from Berwin Industrial Polymers are manufactured to industry standards or can be specifically formulated to meet unique customer requirements, the Advantage range includes:
Tread Extruder Strip, available in commercial, passenger, motorcy- cle, earthmover and motorsport suitable for all cold feed extruders building machines. All compounds use the most up to date ingredi- ents and technology and eminently suitable for today’s stringent requirements.
Tread Slab designed for use mainly on commercial tyre pressure building machines. Strict quality control and in-depth knowledge of the processing requirements of slab extruders ensures maximum production efficiency from the Fleet Advantage range of compounds.
Sidewall Veneer from Berwin is widely acknowledged as one of the leaders in sidewall technology, formulated to withstand the most arduous flexing and weathering characteristics. Berwin veneer is supplied with a specially formulated backing foil to ensure quick release and ease of handling during application, additional options are plain, dusted, perforated or a combination of finishes.
Berwin Ancillary Materials is a range of products to compliment the Advantage range of tyre and sidewall compounds, the range includes Cushion Gum, Balance Rubber, Brush and Spray Solutions.
Berwin Industrial Polymers Ltd Church Road, Lydney, Gloucestershire, GL15 5FG United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 1594 842 224 Fax: +44 (0) 1594 846 569 info@watts-polymers.co.uk www.watts-rubber.com
Premia Advantage
Performance Advantage Rallye Advantage
Moto Advantage
Eco Advantage
Sno Advantage
SWV Advantage
Fleet Advantage
Off-Road Advantage Ancillary Advantage
Passenger Tread for Regular Use
Performance tread High Speed Low Profile Use
For Race & Rally Use For Motorcycle Use
Silica Based for Lower Rolling Resistance High Grip For Winter Tyres
Designed for Max Sidewall Protection Tailored to Suit Axle Applications Designed for Arduous Applications
Materials to Complement The Advantage Tread Compounds