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TYREXPO ASIA
Dr Stephen Evans (Left) and ECI’s Mark Harrison open the show
Dr Stephen Evans gives the opening address at Tyrexpo Asia 2013
Emilio Matteuzzi at the Newera stand presenting the Matteuzzi range to a growing ASEAN market
Tyrexpo Asia Comes of Age in Singapore
Tyrexpo Asia is the longest established tyre industry exhibition for the Asian region. In recent years it has faced competition from a plethora of exhibitions in China, some like Citexpo and Reifen China now well established themselves, and also more recently from more local exhibitions in the various ASEAN markets. However, Tyrexpo Asia has always remained the premier event for the region, its key strength being the wide international visitor profile, both from Asia and from other parts of the world. The acceptance was that if you are a serious player in the Asian tyre industry, you need to be at Tyrexpo Asia.
This year the exhibition took a monumental step forward with huge increases in exhibitors and attendees – a coming of age of sorts that has now firmly positioned the event at the head of the pack. Firstly, by attracting 4,355 individual visitors to the Singapore Expo Centre between 19-21 March, the exhibition lifted its performance by 22.5 per cent compared to the 2011 show, itself a record at the time. And confirming its standing as the most international tyre show in Asia, visitors were recorded from 97 different countries across the global tyre world. Even more impressive was the record number of exhibitors, with 250 suppliers representing a huge 64 per cent increase from two years ago. “We knew we had a record number of exhibitors in the hall, but until the doors opened on day one we couldn’t predict that visitor numbers would show such substantial growth compared to 2011,” commented ECI International sales director, Rowena Suthers. “The show has been steadily gaining momentum over the past few
years, but this year it has really come of age in every respect. In part we also attribute some of the success of the Tyrexpo Asia event to our other growing events in Africa, India and the UK in being able to deliver quality, focused events that meet the demands of both exhibitor and visitor expectations. ECI is proud in playing its part as a facilitator in bringing together tyre professionals from ever increasing global tyre sector markets.”
Tyrexpo Asia 2013 opened in upbeat fashion on the back of predictions from Dr Stephen Evans, secretary- general of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), who forecast a ‘decade of opportunity’ for tyre makers and service providers.
“Much of the demand will originate from China and to a lesser extent India, but from an overall perspective the years through to 2022 will be a period of opportunity for tyre makers and the replacement and service sectors,” said Dr Evans in his opening remarks as guest speaker.
In support of his forecast, he pointed to strong growth in OE and replacement tyre sales as a result of increased vehicle production, with OE passenger car tyre sales growing from 333 million units in 2012 to 524 million units by 2022 and replacement car tyre sales moving from 786 million units in 2012 to 1.3 billion units by 2022.
“We believe there are currently around 1.1 billion vehicles in use around the world and predict that figure will rise to as many as 1.7 billion towards the end of the coming decade. China alone is set to reach a target of an extra 250 million vehicles over the same time frame,” said Dr Evans.
Covencaucho, whose Dobermann brand formed an eye-catching backdrop to the stand. Vietnamese envelope manufacturer HoCom also had a stand of their own supported by Malaysian distributor DKee Greentech.
The show also saw an increase in the number of pre-cured tread suppliers.
had stands at the show included equipment supplier Leshan Yalun, tread press manufacturer Quanzhou Goldhawk and retread brush manufacturer SunMade Brush.
In addition to the huge numbers of Chinese new tyre suppliers (there were over 30 companies from Qingdoa alone) the show offered plenty of interest for those interested in the retreading market. As usual, one of the biggest stands at the show was that of Newera Equipment, which was divided into individual parts for their main supplier partners – Kayel Rubber, MAE, Matteuzzi, B&J Rocket, VMI-AZ and Steinbichler. Other key machinery distributors were also present at the show including Italmatic Asia and Liew Koon, who were supported by Venezuelan envelope manufacturer
This year, perennial visitors Elgi, Midas and Eversafe were joined by Indonesian manufacturers Supratread and PT Surya Mas Agung as well as Bremels Rubber from India, Malaysian producer Maxrubber and the leading Chinese supplier Jianxin. Sun Rubber, meanwhile shared a booth with Acten.
Finally, if the Chinese new tyre suppliers dominated the show, one or two suppliers to the retread sector are beginning to show themselves more actively to the global market. In addition to Jianxin Rubber, Chinese suppliers to the retread sector who
30 Retreading Business