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THE EMIRATES
Top Tyres Expands in the Middle East
Tyre Care Plus to Open
Retreading Plant in Al Kobar,
Top Tyre is fast emerging as a significant retreading company in the Middle East with plants located in the UAE, Oman and Egypt. The company has also finalised plans to enter the Kuwait and Saudi markets soon. “We are planning to build a plant in Kuwait by the end of 2014,” said Nisar Au, General Manager, Top Tyres based in Ajman, about 25 km from the United Arab Emirates capital, Dubai. The upcoming plant would have one 12 tyre chamber with initial capacity pegged at 700- 800 tyres per month.
Top Tyres is also eyeing expansion in the potentially packed Saudi market. It also plans to set up a plant in Dammam. “ The Dammam plant is expected to be functional by the middle of 2014 and it will have an initial production of around 1,000 tyres per month,” informed Usman Babu, General Manager, Top Group of Companies.
The firm opened its Egypt plant in October 2013 in the port city of Alexandria. The plant is currently operating at the relatively low level of around 600 tyres per month. “The Egyptian market has lot of potential but it is slow at the moment due to political instability. We hope the market will pick up once conditions normalise in the country,” commented Nisar.
Top Tyres also opened a plant Al Buraimi couple of years back, retreading around 450 tyres per month. Michelin also have a plant located in Al Buraimi. “We are planning to start OTR retreading by the cold process in next quarter. We have already ordered the equipment and it will be installed and operational within the next three months,” stated Nisar.
Meanwhile, the company is also starting OTR repairs with the Monoflex system at the Ajman facility. Currently, the Ajman plant is retreading 1,200 tyres every month and a hike in production is expected
shortly. “We are hoping to increase production to 2,000 tyres per month by May 2014,” added Nisar. Top Tyres retreads tyres with Supercool tread rubber from Goodway.
Top Tyres’ subsidiary in Abu Dhabi, Metro Tyres, is also planning to expanding into new tyres sales and tyre fitting shortly. Metro Tyres has expanded the area by adding new space from the adjoining plot to venture into the retailing of new tyres of all major Japanese and Chinese brands.
Metro Tyres started in 2004 and retreads around 1,000 tyres per month. “We aim to hike the production to around 2,000 tyres per month by the end of 2014,” said Usman Babu. Elaborating on the strategy, Usman stated, “Our strategy of entering into the new tyre business is to offer a whole package that includes new tyres, fitment and retreading in order to become a one stop shop for all tyre related requirements.”
Top Tyres also feels that the market is slow at the moment. “The market is always slow in the winter season, but it steadily picks up as we approach the summer,” Usman stated. “The market has really dipped in the last quarter but it is expected to pick up on the back of the hype generated by the announcement of Expo 2020 in the next quarter,” said Usman.
Top Tyres sources around 17-20 tonnes of tread rubber from Goodway every month. It has two tyre chambers of 8 and 11 tyres at the Metro Tyres plant in Abu Dhabi. “We have just installed an 11 tyre chamber at Abu Dhabi plant to hike the production,” informed Usman Babu.
Saudi Arabia
As the result of a slowdown in the local market, retreaders in the UAE are increasingly looking towards consolidating their share in the home market and expanding into other promising geographical areas. Tyre Care Plus LLC, who started their operations in Abu Dhabi in 2005, finds the market conditions in the UAE slow at the moment and planning to expand in Saudi Arabia. “We are planning to set up an operation in Al Khobar in Saudi Arabia,” confided Ninan Daniel of Tyre Care Plus LLC. “The plant is scheduled to be operational by April 2014.” Al Khobar is a large city located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia on the coast of the Persian Gulf.
The new plant will have one 11 tyre chamber and capacity of 1,500 tyres
agencies such as the police,” complained Daniel.
When the police stop a fleet running on retreaded tyres, it fines the vehicle owner AED 800 as well as taking it off the road for three days. “It is ironic. When all the government agencies have certified the retreading companies to retread tyres then why are the police fining vehicles running on retreads? We wonder why government bodies or accreditation agencies like the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (ESMA) do not come out with clear cut guidelines regarding the safety and roadworthiness of retreaded tyres,” argued Daniel. “Interestingly, the government allows all kinds of cheap Chinese brands to enter the UAE market, many of which are
per month, similar to the company’s existing plant in Abu Dhabi. Elaborating on the expansion Saudi Arabia market, Daniel stated, “Saudi Arabia is a bigger market than United Arab Emirates and obviously there is potential to grow much more in that market.”
Currently, the Abu Dhabi plant produces 1,350 tyres each month, slightly below capacity. The firm uses an 11 tyre chamber from Rajmahaal. It is also the only company that uses MRF tread in the UAE market and consumes around 24 tonnes every month.
The retreading industry is going through challenging times as retreaders have all the required quality certifications from the government but the police are fining fleets running on retreaded tyres in the absence of a clear cut policy on retreads. “There is an absolute policy crisis when it comes to retreaded tyres and there is no support from the government and enforcement
Ninan Daniel of Tyre Care Plus LLC.
highly unsafe and cannot withhold high pressures in the extremely hot weather conditions of the Gulf region.
Moreover, retreaders question why retreaded tyres on trucks are singled out when the government owned national carrier Emirates Airlines retreads aircraft tyres. “If retreading is safe then why does the government allow the airlines to get tyres retreaded whilst retreaded tyres on truck and trailers are perceived as threat,” Daniel stated. “Although the market is passing through recession it may be cyclical phase as the major issue that haunts the whole retreading industry in the country is the government’s antipathy to the concept of retreading truck tyres. Interestingly, retreading has become strongly entrenched in the market with companies previously not using retreaded tyres now getting their tyres retreaded as part of cost cutting exercises and becoming satisfied customers.
Usman Babu, General Manager, Top Group of Companies
48 Retreading Business