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AFRICA
Qingdao Koowai Exploring Africa’s Retread Tyre Market
and is the deepest natural port on the east coast of Africa. It is also one of the key cities of Mozambique after Capital Maputo and Beira.
Coal mines and gas reserves found in the northern part of the former Portuguese colony promise to be major game changers for the poor African country’s economy in the future. “The gas reserves found in the North are likely to transform the region and open up a whole lot of opportunities for the transport sector. Infrastructure development in the North directly leads to truck movement, which brings tyres for retreading, and the establishment of a retread plant would give us a head-start in the region,” he said. The government is also developing the so-called Nacala Development Corridor, also called "Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte" ("CDN"), which is an area that reaches westward from Nacala to Malawi and is home to about ten million people.
Mozambique’s economy is forecast to expand by 24 percent annually from 2021 to 2025 once natural gas production begins. The nation’s Rovuma offshore gas fields in the north with estimated reserves of 180 trillion cubic feet, will be sub- Saharan Africa’s largest in terms of investment size with the project forecast to soak up more than $100 billion, according to a report by the Washington-based International Monetary Fund.
The southern African nation is expected to become the world’s third-biggest liquefied natural gas exporter after Qatar and Australia once gas production hits its peak.
Tyre Corporation plans to install a 25 tyre chamber at the proposed Nacala plant and will continue to stay with South Africa based Leader Tread for the second plant also. Commenting on the growing potential of Mozambique, Nesbitt said; “Mozambique is a large country with a coastline spreading over 3,500 km. It has a relatively good primar y infrastructure confined to towns only, but beyond the few key cities roads are potholed, and in the absence of a proper road network in place, it is difficult to service the countr y due to the road network left in disarray after 25 years of war and neglect. But it is a growing country with lots of future potential.”
Mozambique has one of least developed transport infrastructures in the Southern African region. Road density has been estimated at 0.05 km per square kilometre, and the classified road network consists of only 30,000 km.
The retreading company opened the first plant in Boane, a district of Maputo Province, about a decade ago. It has one 12 tyre chamber that retreads around 800 units per month. “The plant was originally put up by Goodyear Europe but later on they sold it to us,” he said. It sources about 8 tonnes of tread rubber from Leader Tread each month.
The company does not seem to be perturbed by the increasing presence of Chinese tyres in the African market. “In fact, the rejection rate of Chinese tyres has come down and they are often retreadable now,” he stated.
Chinese companies are continually looking at new ways to strengthen their position in the African market. There was a plethora of Chinese tyre makers searching for business opportunities during Tyrexpo Africa, but one of these was looking for buyers for its range of retread tyres as well as its new tyre products.
and use the same rubber. It’s a small operation, and the rest of the production is supplied to the local market,’ said Deng.
‘We could hike the production to 150 tyres each day but the market is slow in China these days,’ he added. The plant has two autoclaves and equipment is sourced domestically.
David Deng, Deputy General Manager, Qingdao Koowai Tyre Co Ltd
“We have a retread plant in Qingdao, and we are very much open to the idea of exporting retread tyres to the African market,” said David Deng, Deputy General Manager, Qingdao Koowai Tyre Co Ltd.
The tyre maker’s retread plant produces around 100 tyres per day, consuming about 20 tonnes of tread rubber each month. ‘We also produce tread rubber in partnership
Qingdao Koowai Tyre Co., Ltd. is a tyre manufacturer and supplier of all kinds of tyres such as PCR, UHP, 4X4, SUV, TBB, TBR, AGR & OTR (Radial & Bias). It exports tyres to more than 86 countries and accredited with various certifications including ISO, DOT, ECE, GCC, INMETRO, SONCAP etc. It exports around 10 containers per month from its Qingdao plant.
Tyre Corporation to Open Second Mozambique Plant
City Retreads to Tread Cautiously
in Future Expansion
Mozambique based Tyre Corporation has plans to open a second retread plant in the North of the country by the end of the year. “We are planning the second plant in the northern city of Nacala,” said Shane Nesbitt, Administrator, Tyre
Corporation in an interaction with Retreading Business at Tyrexpo Africa in Johannesburg, South Africa recently.
Nacala, also known as Cidade de Nacala or Nacala-Porto, is on the northern coast of Mozambique
Mandela Group subsidiar y, City Retreads has plans to grow in the East and Central African markets but has put a temporary hold on expansion due to the downturn in regional markets. The K ampala, Uganda based company is eyeing expansion after stabilisation of the market conditions. “There are opportunities to grow in the markets of Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya and in West Africa, but currently the market is not conducive for any investment due to its subdued state,” said Abdullahi Ahmed of City Retread.
The retread company is a part of City Tyres, one of Uganda’s biggest authorised dealer of tyre brands like Pirelli, Kumho and MRF. The group has diversified interests including the supply of genuine spare parts for
Japanese vehicles like Toyota, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Honda, Isuzu, Suzuki etc., as well as having gasoline stations throughout the countr y under subsidiar y City Oil (U) Ltd.
The company’s precure retreading plant operates using Matteuzzi equipment and manufactures around 2,000 tyres each month, using tread from Supercool, Vipal and occasionally MRF. “We have plans to have retreading operations in Sudan, South Sudan and Kenya, but low priced Chinese tyres have badly affected the market, with rubber prices down and cuts in new tyre prices. The retread industr y in the region is badly affected,” Ahmed said.
Moreover, South Sudan continues to be in turmoil, and relations with
Shane Nesbitt (in glasses), Administrator with Eddie Jordaan of Tyre Corporation
40 Retreading Business