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INDONESIA
fewer will come through for retreading,” Hentono thinks.
Newera retreading equipment has tight grip over the retreading industry of the Far East. It has supplied a lot of retreading plants in Indonesia too. “We have equipment from Newera and Italmatic including three tyre chambers of 12, 18 & 22 tyres respectively,” Hentono informed. Indonesia is the second largest rubber producer in the world and largest of the country’s rubber plantations is located in Sumatra.
“Rubber prices are at their lowest for five years, even after supply curbs implemented by three rubber producing countries - Indonesia, Malaysia & Thailand last year to bolster rubber prices,” Hentono said. Currently, Rubber prices are at a low of US$ 2.7 per kg. “But there is no positive impact on the retreading sector of any booming economy or property market, or the strong Indonesian Rupiah against the Dollar,” said Hontono.
Raya, Plant Head, CV Perdamaian with Alfonsin Januady Utama
Medan Retreader Planning Second Plant
Medan based CV Perdamaian Cold Retread Technology is planning to set-up its second facility shortly. Perdamaian is planning expansion in the Sumatra region. “We are planning our second plant in Bengkulu, otherwise known as Southwest Sumatra,” said Raya, Plant Head, CV Perdamaian. The quake prone and tsunami hit Bengkulu was once a British garrison. It is also looking at another location on the Eastern coast of Central Sumatra in the Jambi Province.
The upcoming precure plant is likely to come up in the next couple of
years. The company would zero in on the plant location either at Bengkulu or Jambi by next year. “We will finalise the retread plant location depending on the potential of the market in and around Bengkulu and Jambi,” Raya stated. The company has identified these two locations as both have no retreading plants. It has also been known that Bengkulu and Jambi are key hubs of palm oil and rubber plantations. The mother plant in Medan retreads 3,000 tyres each month and sources tread liner from PT Gemar Sukhawati Indah in Medan. “We source around 20 tonnes of precure tread liner each month,” Raya said.
The company’s major clientele includes palm oil and rubber plantation companies. The dedicated precure plant retreads truck and bus tyres.
“We have no plans to get into OTR retreading as our focus remains on truck/bus tyres in order to retain our clientele in this highly competitive market,” he stated. The Medan plant was set-up in 1998.
One of the biggest challenges faced by the retreading industry in Indonesia remains the presence of Chinese tyres as they are considered not good for second time retreading. “Moreover, fleet-owners violate loading limits, further damaging the tyre and long payment patterns are also killing the retreading industry in Indonesia,” he said. Besides, there is cut-throat competition as Medan alone has about 15 retreading plants. By rough estimates, the Medan market alone is worth in between 50,000 to 100,000 retread tyres per month.
Meanwhile, Perdamaian is planning to add
equipment at the Medan plant. “We will order one buffing machine from Newera in the next three months,” Raya confirmed. The Medan based retreading company observed that the traditional hot cure process is
on the way out in Indonesia market. “The hot process is gradually on the way out. Moreover, people largely believe now that precure is better in quality than the hot cure process,” he said.