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TYREXPO INDIA
CIO Capable of Retreading Bigger OTR Sizes in India
Monarch Improves Stake in Indian Market
K Murlidharan, Director, CIO Tyres Private Limited
Indian OTR retreader CIO Tyres Private Limited is aiming to grow by more than 30 per cent next year on the strength of growing business from publically owned mines in India. Despite a slowdown in the private mining sector, the company hopes to maintain its targeted growth level. “The government mines are doing well and we hope the scenario in the private sector will also improve next year,” said company director K Murlidharan. The Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) based OTR retreader, which lays claim to be the first and largest OTR retreader in India, was showcasing a 36-51 tyre retreaded by the company, at Tyrexpo India in Chennai recently. “This is one of the biggest sizes of OTR retreads manufactured at our facility,” said Murlidharan. The company retreads OTR tyres by the hot cure process and says it has the capability to retread 50/80-57 tyres, regarded as one of the biggest OTR size tyres. “This size is not yet available in the Indian market but might become so by the end of 2013,” informed Murlidharan.
The company, which has been retreading tyres for more than 60 years, manufactured 480 OTR tyres last year in a variety of different sizes. “We are also retreading
between 200-300 commercial vehicle tyres per month at our Jamshedpur plant,” he added. The Eastern State of Jharkhand was carved out of the Southern part of Bihar in 2000 and Jamshedpur is the largest and biggest industrial city in the state. Jharkhand has large mineral deposits and 40 per cent of India’s mineral reserves are to be found in the state. “The state is a mining hub and offers huge growth opportunities on the OTR retreading side. This is why we are focussing on the OTR business,” he explained.
In addition to retreads, CIO manufactures tread rubber for its own consumption as well as moulds and machinery. “This is a further reason for our success,” explained Murlidharan. “Interestingly, a total of 72 tyres in the 36/81 size were retreaded in India last year and CIO retreaded 68 of them”.
CIO’s clientele includes some of India’s largest state-owned mining companies including Northern Coalfields, Eastern Coalfields, South Eastern Coalfields, Mahanadi Coalfields, Singareni Collieries and the Uranium Corporation of India.
Since teaming-up with Indian company Unipatch, Monarch Vulcanising Systems Ltd has started promoting its Monaflex tyre repair system in the Indian market. As a result of aggressive promotion by the Indian partner, which has a dealer network spread across India, the Monaflex tyre repair system has now already been installed in more than dozen plants. “We joined hands with Unipatch in 2011 and have been quite successful since then,” said Andy Homer, International Sales Manager, Monarch Vulcanising Systems.
It seems that Monarch have nurtured good clientele in the OTR
their customers and the improvement in quality after using the Monaflex System and that has proved to be a game changer for our system in this market,” said Andy Homer.
Monarch hopes to do good business this year as well. “We are looking to install another half-a-dozen systems this year,” said Matt Summers. When asked to comment on the Indian market, he said, “Potential in the Indian market is huge but the tyre repair sector is disorganised and largely in the hands of road side players. We hope the market will improve with foreign brands entering into the Indian market in
Andy Homer, International Sales Manager and Matt Summers, Operation Manager, Monarch Vulcanising Systems
tyre repair sector. “We have already sold fifteen systems but the majority of them have been in the OTR side. We have also opened up the truck segment by installing a couple of systems for truck repair also,” added Matt Summers, Operation Manager.
The company, based in Guernsey, which is part of the cluster of small British Crown dependencies known as the Channel Islands, is a regular visitor to tyre industr y shows in Asia promoting their Monaflex tyre repair system. According to them the Indian market has improved a lot since the first system was sold. “Many of our clients have been overwhelmed by the response of
almost ever y sector.”
Monarch feels that the mood is changing in the Indian market as earlier tyre makers used to be interested in selling tyres only. “But now Indian tyre companies are entering into aftersales tyre care services too,” said Andy Homer. With the Indian market opening up, Monarch hopes to hike its stake as more companies are approaching them for demonstrating their system. “We have been approached by a mobile tyre care service from the Northern part of India which is active in the mining sector. We are sure to improve our numbers in this market in the time to come,” said Matt Summers.
36 Retreading Business
Rajmahaal Looking for Alliances in Global Retread Market
In addition to its own domestic market, Coimbatore, India based Rajmahaal Tyre Equipments Pvt Ltd has developed a strong presence in the markets of the Middle East and Africa. Now, however, the company is looking for more joint ventures and strategic alliances in the wider international market. According to Rajendran, Managing Director,
Rajmahaal Tyre Equipments Pvt Ltd (RTPL), the company has already formed a strategic alliance with Cochin Rubber to supply retreading equipment in Saudi Arabia and some of the key Gulf markets.
Meanwhile, the company was showcasing its cost-effective tyre inspection spreader at the Tyrexpo India exhibition in Chennai. “It is a