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THE EMIRATES
Emirates Transport Rapidly Expanding Retreading Infrastructure
rubber and steel waste by retreading the tyres. This would also be cost effective as it would lead to considerably better control of our annual tyre purchases,” conceded Pramod.
According to the company, Emirates Transport also intends to project its retreading initiatives as a role model for the industry. With this in mind, the company has started educating fleet owners to use good quality casings, which can be retreaded to ‘save cost and the environment’.
In its endeavour to build a
retreading infrastructure in the UAE, the government is also setting-up a ‘Tyre Testing Lab’ by the end of 2014. “Currently, retreaded tyres are being sent to neighbouring Saudi Arabia to test their worthiness for various government certifications. It takes a month to send the tyre and get it back with a report,” informed Pramod. The testing lab is proposed to be set up in Dubai with an investment of around AED 5 million and it would cater for the whole Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Countries.
On the one hand there is utter confusion among the various layers of the UAE authorities over policy towards the acceptability of retreaded tyres, but on the other hand, the state-owned biggest transport company of the oil rich country, Emirates Transport, has ambitious plans to expand its retreading activities rapidly in the next couple of years. Emirates Transport has 12,000 vehicles including 6,000 trucks and an equal number of buses, half of which are school buses. The company started its retreading plant in Dubai in January 2013. “The plant has the capacity to retread 3,000 tyres per month. Our target is to retread 1,400 tyres a month in 2014 and 2,500 tyres in 2015,” informed Pramod Karuthrdath, Factory Manager (Retreading), Emirates Transport.
Emirates Transport has invested around AED 3 million in the Dubai plant and its ambitious growth strategy includes plans for one more plant with similar investment levels
the chamber, it can be rectified online by Goodway in Malaysia,” explained Pramod. Emirates Transport is expanding its technical collaboration with Goodway Rubber Industr y which supplies both rubber and machiner y. The Dubai based transport company is the first franchisee of the Malaysian company in the Middle East. Emirates Transport is a government company, run by the Ministr y of Education. Interestingly, Emirates Transport has plans to expand rapidly in the Emirates but is also negotiating with the Saudi Arabia Education Ministr y to set-up a retreading project on similar lines in that countr y also. “Emirates Transport will provide all equipment, investment and operational expertise in running the retreading operation in Saudi Arabia,” confided Pramod. The retreading project is under discussion with the government and a feasibility study of the project has already been conducted. “The plant is likely to be built in Jeddah and
Al Dobowi has the Capacity to Meet Demand
of AED 3 million during the next couple of years. “We have plans to build a retreading plant in Abu Dhabi by the end of 2015 and it would likely to commence operation by early 2016,” said Pramod. The transport company has already identified the plant location in Abu Dhabi and expanding its activities in order to be self reliant in retreading the tyres of its own large fleet along with catering to the outside market in order to compete with other retreading companies. The upcoming Abu Dhabi plant will also have a monthly capacity of 3,000 tyres.
The Dubai facility is equipped with the latest 25 tyre chamber with online diagonostic capacity from Goodway. “If there is any trouble in
something concrete is likely to emerge in 2015,” added Pramod. There is a concerted strategy from the government to reduce the cost of tyre purchases annually. Emirates Transport invests around AED 12 million annually on tyre purchases to run its large fleet. “Our plan is to reduce tyre purchases by 30-40 per cent annually by retreading the existing casings,” stated Pramod. The move is also part of the government green environment initiative ‘Go Green’. Over the years, UAE has become a dumping ground for cheap Chinese tyres which have absolutely no life and are dumped on the roadside after use. “It has been felt that dumped tyres are a waste. they cannot be re-exported and the idea is to minimise the
UAE’s retreading industry is banking on Expo 2020 as the catalyst for recovery, as the government announced a number of infrastructural projects that will be instigated from 2015 onwards. Despite talks of economic boom, the retreading industry seems cautious and there are companies which are keeping their cards close to their chests. According to Al Dobowi’s Managing Director, Surender Singh Kandhari Expo 2020 has generated considerable hype but unutilised capacity means that it is too early for the company to go on an expansion drive.
“We have the latest equipment and upgradation is a continuous process with us,” he said. The company’s Jebel Ali based plant in Dubai has the capacity to retread 3,500 tyres per month but is currently only actually doing around 2,500.
The UAE government has announced plans to construct about 400 hotels (100 coming up by 2020), a new exhibition ground, new tram service, new airport, roads etc. “Scope and opportunities are tremendous as the size of Dubai would be doubled. Work on various projects would most likely begin next year and only in 2015 will the
real impact be known,” said Kandhari.
Al Dobowi started in the OTR segment 10 years ago and currently repairs and retreads 100 - 120 OTR tyres per month. He further said, “The Expo 2020 project would certainly benefit the industry as more tyres could be sold and truck movements would increase.” The government will focus on developing the whole country and new cities.
Al Dobowi also has plans to build a tyre making plant in India but it has decided to postpone the project for the time being. “Elections are round the corner in India. Let the new government come into power and we will take decision on our India plan,” confided Kandhari.
It has been informed by the company that once the crushers start moving with the commencement of work on the infrastructural projects, the production would be increased by another 500 tyres. Al Dobowi is regarded as a top of the line retreading company in Dubai, charging almost double the price of its competitors. The company gets its rubber supplies from the Bandag plant in Belgium.
Surender Singh Kandhari, Managing Director, Al Dobowi
44 Retreading Business