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not benefitting either party and Seiça now operates completely independently. The only mark of Recamic being on some of the Matteuzzi supplied equipment. Asked about the challenges and opportunities in the industry, Joaquim commented, “The biggest issue in recent years has been the import of Chinese and South East Asian tyre brands. The obvious clash is on price, with these being priced in the market similarly, or even lower than retreads. These tyres truly ate into the retread sector and many companies simply couldn’t compete. However, the market is starting to learn of the false economy of these cheap tyres which have a notably shorter life cycle, so represent poor value for money in the long term. So, we are starting to see well managed operators move away from these products.
“The other impact from the cheap imports has been that since these casings are not really suitable for
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FLP Curing flaps
retreading they have helped create a casings shortage.”
That casings issue is universal and is a dynamic that is changing as the quality and price of Chinese tyres is gradually increasing to meet European quality.
“Also impacting on the casings supply,” added Joaquim Seiça, “is the tyre management operations of companies such as Michelin and Goodyear. They are trying to retain all their own casings and that has an impact upon the volume and quality of material available to the independent retreaders.”
Seiça has dealt with this shortage by following in the footsteps of Michelin, doubtless learning from its Recamic days. Seiça operates a whole life tyre management system with its clients, fleet transporters, both regional and long haul, and urban transport operators such as Arriva have contracts with Seiça. As many as 80 per cent of casings are customers’ own casings, which goes some way to alleviating the casing
Casings ready for the precure line
supply issue.
Another issue that irks Joaquim is the supply of used tyres in the market. “There are now large volumes of used tyres coming into the market in all fields but critically in the car, light truck and 4x4 sectors. These are creating many
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problems here in Portugal. They impact on new and retread sales, there are disposal issues, there are tax issues, there are safety issues as there are no standards and no inspections. These used tyres are very rarely economically efficient, but the used tyre buyer is looking at the price he has to pay today, rather than the price he will have to pay over the new tyre lifetime equivalent.” Seiça, like many others in the business would like to see an end to used tyre sales, but as has been proven in the UK, defining the used tyre is difficult to clarify and even when there is a clear set of rules, if no-one is available to enforce them, then they make little difference to the outcome.
Joaquim presented a challenge not brought up by other retreaders, and that was that the industry needed to do more to promote retreading. “A main challenge for retreaders is for us to pass the message about retreads to the consumer. Today’s retreads are good quality tyres, they give very good performance and they are environmentally friendly. ANIRP, the Portuguese retreaders’ organisation, has run a media campaign on television encouraging people to use retreads, and this year’s Dakar winner used retreaded tyres. We need to change the perception but we can’t expect an instant response.”
Today, Seiça uses almost exclusively EIB rubber and EIB precure tread, creating a synergy between the two companies who are only a kilometre or so apart. The closeness of EIB means that Seiça can discuss compounds and have special batches made to resolve specific issues. Test batches can be tried if the client wants better wear resistance, or more grip.
The company’s 55 staff produce around 25,000 tyres per year. The company has always been based in Marinha Grande since its inception in 1949 and is now in its third generation of the Seiça family. All this started with an operation retreading bicycle tyres.
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