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RUSSIA
Tatneft to Open Retreading Plant in Tatarstan
The Board of Directors of the Russian company Tatneft, is currently considering the feasibility of a project for the opening of a tyre plant with a retreading line in the Republic of Tatarstan.
There is still no official information on the specifications of the project, but analysts expect the capacity of the retreading line may be about 20,000 units per year, whilst the level of investment in the whole factory will be around US $ 4 billion. This will make the plant one of the largest in Russia.
"The company is looking at a large capacity, but so far there is no a certain decision on the size of the project. The Company is evaluating the investment attractiveness of the retreading industry in targeted regions of Russia, as well as general market potential,” said a source in the Tatneft Company.
It is known that Tatneft aims to create a system, which will provide for the retreading of tyres mostly of its own production.
For instance, Tatneft currently owns Nizhnekamskshina, Nizhnekamsk Truck Tyre Plant and Nizhnekamsk Steel Tyres Plant. In 2013, they produced 12.5 million tyres, which is equal to more than 30 per cent of the total Russian tyre production.
Representatives of the trading partner of Tatneft, TD Kama also disclosed that in addition to the main plant in Tatarstan, the company, within the same project, could open several smaller retreading enterprises in the more remote regions of Russia and even abroad.
“It is expected that the main factory should cover the needs of the surrounding regions, while the regional retreading plants should be established in remote areas and be subject to the dealers or subsidiaries of the company,” said a statement by the management of TD Kama. One such plant could be opened in Kazakhstan in the special economic zone named “Astana” where the project will be supported by the state and will probably receive some economic or tax bonuses, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Tatarstan.
"We visited the special economic
zone of Astana, and we were pleased to see Nizhnekamsk tyre manufacturers already selling their products and planning to develop retreading production,” said Trade and Industr y Minister, Ravil Zaripov.
In the opinion of the experts, Kazakhstan was chosen for the localisation of the retreaded tyre production mostly because the local market is currently considered as one of the most attractive in the CIS region. According to the official statistics of TD Kama, Kazakhstan is currently the largest purchaser of
tyres from Tatneft. Last year this position was occupied by Ukraine, but in the first half of 2014 it faced the collapse of the
market and almost abandoned the import of tyres from Russia.