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LATIN AMERICA
Impressive Growth for Latin American and Caribbean Tyre Expo
The third edition of the Latin American and Caribbean Tyre Expo took place at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama City at the end of July. It was the first time that Retreading Business
success of the show is not surprising as it is an ideal location for Central America, the Caribbean and the northern part of South America as well as Mexico and the US.
rubber manufacturer Hules Banda has a pioneer in its support for the show and had one of the larger stands at the exhibition. Bridgestone Bandag and Elgi both had stands but other major Latin American rubber suppliers like Vipal and Galgo do not have a presence, which suggests that the organisers still have some work to do.
Interestingly a number of US suppliers to the sector were present with stands including Myers Tire Supply, Shamrock Marketing and Tesco whilst others
presence. The other retreader present was Easy Tec Trading from Hong Kong.
This year for the first time there was a half day seminar programme held on Thursday 26 July. As regular attendees at tyre shows around the world will be aware, seminar programmes at shows are usually attended only half-heartedly. This seminar, however, was full. Speakers covered a wide range of tyre related topics. However, the two main speakers from the retreading sector were Heriberto Romero of
attended this annual event, which was in its third year and we have to say we were impressed at the growth achieved by the organisers in such a short space of time.
The show boasted 170 exhibitors from 70 countries, spread over
For suppliers to the retreading industry Central America is a market well worth visiting. Retreading is well accepted throughout the region and there are many relatively large retreaders in the area, offering
like Robbins and Taray had representatives visiting the show. There was also an interesting mix of casing suppliers from around the world. Those we noticed included Carssi (Australia), Casing Connection (Canada), LKQ (USA) and Pimex (Germany).
Hules Banda, whose presentation “The Global Retreading Trend” gave an overview of retreading markets across the world and David Stevens of TRIB, who gave an overview of the US retreading industr y and the results of a recently completed Chamber Fire Study.
three exhibition halls. In the lead- up to the show the organisers were expecting in the region of 3,000 visitors.
With Panama being located at the hub of Central America and with a fast-expanding economy, the
opportunities for tread rubber suppliers and machinery manufacturers alike.
The Latin America and Caribbean Tyre Expo is still relatively early in its development as a market for retreaders. The Mexican tread
The Central American market also appears attractive for passenger retreaders with the two Portuguese retreaders, Fedima and Nortenha both showing a strong
The fourth edition of the Latin American and Caribbean Tyre Expo will take place from July 24- 27, 2013 at the same location.
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