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SAUDI ARABIA
Bundini. “We are the exclusive distributor of the software in the Middle East. It has 28 years of intelligence and is still growing with every month. Users can check their tyre performance on their iphone or ipad from any
part of the globe,” he said.
The TMS has two stages, the first stage is an initiation and features documented air pressure, tread depth and a visual inspection followed by scrap analysis and performance projections. The company signed the first contract in 2010. “Currently, we have five fleet owners subscribed on eight different locations. We are hoping for another 15-20 fleet owners to join TMS1 in 2012,” claimed Luc.
TMS2 is an optimisation level and tracks the life of the tyre from purchase to removal. “We have only one client using the TMS2 but at least five more in the pipeline. Moreover, we cannot increase the client base further due to a shortage of manpower,” Luc informed. He expected to sign-up about 20 fleets for TMS2 by end 2012.
General Retread feels that competition is bad for the market as the company sells high end products and really doesn’t compete on a like for like basis with the smaller players.
“People do not understand the difference between price and cost, we are the most expensive price wise but the cheapest in cost terms. People go for price and not quality and this results in failures,” Luc stressed. Moreover, there are strict laws for new tyres but no laws for retreaded tyres. “We are lobbying with the authorities to introduce the ECE109 as in the UAE ,” Luc stressed.
On the other hand, commenting on the competition with number of smaller players entering the fray. Kandhari commented positively, “The more people spread the concept of retreading, the more fleets should adopt the TMS.
The company is regarded as among the pioneers in retreading OTR in the Saudi market. The OTR retreading started around five years ago.
Meanwhile, the group has invested around US$ 10 million in setting up a facility for manufacturing all kinds of rubber products including rubber seals, extruded profile, moulded products, rubber sheets, gaskets, mounting, couplings etc. “We are investing another US$ 10 million in the Jubail based plant in the 3 to 5 years,” he said. The new rubber plant would cater to the whole Middle
Eastern market. The company is also targeting markets of N Africa, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia from this plant as well as the Middle Eastern market in the next five years. Meanwhile, the Saudi Arabian government has also announced construction projects worth some US$ 400 billion in various parts of the country and this should benefit the retreading industry in the years to come. “Currently, the plants are running one shift and we are prepared for the any positive changes in the market emanating out of the infrastructure projects announced by the government, Jasjeev assured. The company could increase the number of shifts to meet the demand. Currently, the Dammam and Jeddah plants retread around 1500 – 2000 tyres per month depending upon the demand. It also retreads around 60 OTRs per month. The company’s tread requirements
are met by Bandag’s Belgian plant.
The Saudi retreading industry is facing the casing shortage and the government will not allow import of old casings. General Retread has launched a drive amongst fleet owners to collect the old casings.
Luc Slembrouck, Business Development Manager, General Retreads
Jasjeev Singh Kandhari, Managing Director, Al Dobowi with Paul Carrington, General Manager, General Retreads