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INDIA
KV Tolins exchanging MoU with Nadejda Stepanova and Igor Bezkrovny of Dontechresina and Company
Shipment ready for the US market
KV Tolin
Tolins Signs Tread Making JV in Ukraine
Indian tread manufacturers are increasingly looking for greener pastures abroad. The domestic brands are now eying up the price sensitive markets of Eastern Europe and particularly the CIS countries. Exporting tread from India is not new as a few major players have been doing this for several years but no company has ever planned to manufacture tread there. Interestingly, one Indian tread maker has set up a joint venture in Ukraine to manufacture tread as well transferring the tread making technology to the local partner.
"We have recently signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with Dontechresina and Company, based in the Eastern Ukrainian city of Doetsk to manufacture precure tread under the 'Tolins' brand name with our technology," confirmed a beaming K V Tolin to Retreading Business in an exclusive interview at the company's mother plant in Kalady, Kerala. The Ukranian company manufactures rubber moulded products like rubber rings, gaskets, extrusion profiles etc.
To set up tread making facility in Ukraine
Retreading Business has been informed that a new company will shortly be formed with 50:50 equity participation. The Indo-Ukrainian venture plans to manufacture 300 tonnes of tread initially. "The production is likely to commence in the first quarter of 2013," assured Tolin.
It is noted that Tolins set up a plant in Ras-Al-Khema in the UAE a few years back. The UAE foray provided a platform to market its tread and tyre range in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries. This is going to be Tolin’s second international foray that brings its product range to Eastern Europe. "The Ukrainian JV would extend our footprint in the potential markets of Russia, Kazakhstan, Baltic States and even the EU markets," says Tolin, who is in control of the Kalady
full steam, catering to
the domestic market and the Gulf Cooperation Council market. It opened a new sales office and showroom at Al Makhtoom Road in
Januar y 2012 and that brings in good business for its new tyre range from the African and Gulf market.
throttle in its new tyre venture too. The company is manufacturing bias- ply tyres in its Kalady plant. “We are in the midst of venturing into the manufacturing of new sizes as due to increasing radialisation in India, those sizes are becoming scarce in the market. We are establishing ourselves and we are seeing this as an opportunity,” Tolins said. The company does have plans to manufacture radial tyres in the future but this bias ply demand has created an interim opportunity. Tolins has also set up a plastic film making plant in Ernakulam. The plant has a capacity of around 100 tonnes per month and commenced production in January 2012. “The plastic film is used in the manufacturing of bonding gum as well as manufacturing film for wrapping tyres,” Tolin informed. The company imported machines from Taiwan and manufactures 30 tonnes for its own consumption. It is planning to tap the domestic market to run the plant to full capacity. The company feels that in-house manufacturing of plastic film is an advantage as Tolins has direct control over the quality of the bonding gum.
When asked about future challenges Tolin responded that he believed that instability in the raw material prices is probably the biggest challenge for the manufacturers. “Fluctuation in the raw material prices kept us busy all the time,” Tolin quipped. It has become difficult for tread and tyre manufacturers to honour long term fixed price contracts due to fluctuating raw material prices.
based tread maker, assisted byateamof professionals working overtime to extend the Tolins brand’s reach into the global market. Interestingly, Tolin surveyed the Ukraine market and found that there was no local tread maker in the
CIS countr y formerly regarded as the 'wheat bowl' of the erstwhile USSR. The local retreading companies are solely dependent on imports of tread rubber mainly from Latin America. The Indian company smells huge potential in the Ukraine market and having a base in the country would help it to grow in the neighbouring markets too.
Indian sub-continent foray
Meanwhile, Tolins is also gearing up with another major foray and this time it doesn’t have to travel too far. This time it is going out to be an all out acquisition that would give a major push to its product in the domestic market but also provide a platform for the export market. We have been reliably informed that a major international brand is bowing out of the retreading market of that countr y and selling off its manufacturing facility and Tolins has bought the plant and is in the process of finalising the transfer. Tolin declined to share anything more on this foray as the deal is in
brand in the Indian sub-continent.”
Hiking capacity at Indian plant
Currently, Tolins production has almost reached 2,000 tonnes per month. The company plans to further hike the production in the next few months to 3,000 tonnes per month. “We commissioned two Banbury’s each of 250 kg batch weight last
month. These new Banbur ys add to the three we previously held, bringing the total to five. Our mixing capacity has almost reached 3,000 tonnes per month,” claimed K V Tolin. It plans to install two more
Banbury’s in
the next couple of years to take the monthly mixing capacity to 5,000 tonnes. “We have been doing quite well in the export market due to the plant opening in the UAE. We have also opened up sales in the US market recently and the first shipment is being readied for export. We are now procuring special moulds to develop patterns for the US market,” informed Tolin. According to K V, ”We are now exporting almost 30 per cent of our production.”
New UAE office and ware house
Tolins’ UAE plant is now running at
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait etc,” he stated. Now, Tolins is further expanding its presence in the UAE by taking a 10,000 sqr mtr plot and building a 30,000 sqr ft HQ in Ras- Al- Khema. “We will open a new office in the building alongside the warehouse and factor y,” K V Tolin said.
Meanwhile, back in the domestic Indian market, Tolins is going full
64 Retreading Business
the final stages of completion and a formal agreement and handing over ceremony is going to be organised in the next quarter. When prodded further, K V Tolin smilingly said, “The acquisition would go a long way towards firmly establishing our
“Our tread business is growing steadily in the UAE market. We are continuing to be a leading supplier of tread in the UAE, selling around 80-100 tonnes per month. We are also opening up new business avenues in the adjoining markets of