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TURKEY
The management team at Rekor Kaucuk – Selahattin Algan is on the right
Tread production at Rekor
Rekor Kaucuk to Invest in New Plant in Eskisehir
compounds and we are confident of being able to achieve the sales growth that we need.”
Established in 1947 in the Kurtulus district of Istanbul, Rekor K aucuk has become a success stor y within the Turkish rubber market. In 1978 the company moved to Pendik on the Asian side of the Bosphorus to the current 28,000 sq m site, which offers 10,000 sq m of covered factor y space spread over two separate plants, one for the mixing of rubber compounds, while the other is solely for the production of pre- cured treads.
Rekor K aucuk operates in two main fields – the production of specialist technical rubber
overseas companies such as Vipal and Galgo. There are also a number of domestic Turkish producers. According to Selahattin Algan there is considerable potential for growth in the future, not least because of the relatively low retread share of 25 per cent in Turkey.
Despite this, however, Algan believes that the market is set for a period of consolidation, largely due to the adoption in Turkey of ECE 109 as a mandator y quality standard. “There are currently more than 200 retreaders in Turkey of which 95 per cent are pre-cure,” he points out. “Most of these are ver y small and many need help in attaining the 109
Pendik, Istanbul based tread rubber manufacturer Rekor Kaucuk has announced that it will be investing USD 25 million in a new manufacturing facility in the town of Eskisehir, Turkey, which lies in a strategically important location between Istanbul and Ankara. The new 75,000 sq m site will be located in dedicated industrial zone and will incorporate 30,000 sq m of covered area, three times more than at the company’s existing facility in Pendik. The plant is scheduled to be operational by mid 2016.
According to Selahattin Algan, General Manager of Rekor Kaucuk, a key reason for the decision to move was the lack
of space to grow at the company’s site in Pendik, which nearly forty years after the company first moved there, now lies on valuable development land.
Total mixing capacity at the new plant will be 25,000 tonnes annually, with the possibility to increase further in the future. Pre-cure capacity will initially be 16,000 tonnes per year, a level which will offer Rekor the opportunity to significantly expand its current sales of 4- 5,000 tonnes per year. Selahattin Algan commented; “We are making a huge investment, which needs proper planning. However, Rekor is growing fast both in retreading and technical rubber
compounds for a variety of sectors including automotive parts and tyre retreading. In the automotive sector, Rekor is a supplier of rubber parts to the OEM market and has achieved TS 16949 status - the OEM standard for parts suppliers.
In the retreading sector, the company makes compounds for both hot and cold processes, including for truck and OTR, and has been active as a supplier of pre-cured retreading materials for the last 12-13 years.
Rekor claims a market leadership position in the competitive Turkish market but faces strong competition from all the major European brands such as Bandag, Recamic, Kraiburg and Marangoni as well as some of the more prominent
standard. Retreaders are certified by the Turkish Standards Institute but there is not enough testing capacity. We expect the market to consolidate to about 100 retreaders in the future. However, at Rekor we have been at the forefront of the move to help the retreading industr y become certified. As things stand around fifty retreaders in Turkey have been certified as a direct result of our help.”
The Turkish market has experienced a downturn this year but, more importantly, there has also been a polarisation of the market, with the premium and budget sectors both growing. This is significant because, according to Rekor, ten years ago the market was not asking for budget products.
Rekor’s quality control is monitored in a fully equipped laboratory
22 Retreading Business