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CROATIA
There are, says Žarko Sinkovski, 20 car tyre presses, six truck and 8 light truck and 4x4. There are three buffers in operation and a couple in reserve plus the tyre building equipment.
need arises, his most recent purchases being new moulds from CIMA. He tells Retreading Business that he has invested over 1 million Euro in new moulds recently.
On the condition of the market, Žarko Sinkovski was sanguine, “4x4 is okay. If I operate only in truck tyres it is very difficult. When I started retreading people thought I was crazy but, you know, we have had some good
years so far.
“We don’t have fleet management. We are a straightforward retreading company and we sell direct to tyre shops across Croatia and Serbia. We will sell tyres to anyone who wants to be our customer. We sell to callers at the shop, we sell to wholesalers and we sell to retailers. We do a lot of business in winter car tyres and in 4x4.
“We do have a problem sourcing 4x4 tyres though. The casings are in high demand and we have to source from North America. However, despite quality promises and me going across
and showing the supplier exactly what I needed, we have received containers where we have a high percentage of rejects. So, I need to find 4x4 casing suppliers who will send me what I ask for. The problem is that I have to pay tax on every casing whether I use it or not. So, even if I get a rebate from the supplier for rejected casings, I still have to pay for their import. “Obviously, we have no problem with car tyre casings. On truck tyres, even though we don’t do fleet management, we still do 70 per cent CoC and 30 per cent are bought in. “Overall the trend is down at the moment, and the Chinese tyres have driven the market to cost rather than mileage, and many customers are looking for cheap truck tyres rather than the best technical solution. That makes it difficult to compete at the moment. Some customers still have faith in retreading. Cheaper materials prices would help, but it would still be difficult. I don’t understand why the European Union does not place a duty in imports from China. A small percentage would help.
“However, the problem is not only about price. There is a sort of fashion concept around using Chinese tyres. They are considered the way to go. Some companies buy in Chinese tyres direct. They buy for their own fleet,
and then they sell the surplus on the open market at a low price to release the capital – they often don’t make a profit, sometimes they even sell at a loss. That is something that is difficult to contend with.
“Some big tyre companies are getting into Chinese tyres but they buy in bulk and have to sell in bulk too. One company, we believe, brought in Chinese tyre stock and last summer was selling them at 45 per cent discount on their already low price – they must have sold them at less than cost price.”
So, how is Guma Protekt surviving in these market conditions? “We are down,” said Žarko Sinkovski but spring is usually better and we have a strong 4x4 market and a steady car tyre market. We have no trade debts, all our suppliers have been paid in full, so we can play with a free hand. On top of that financial position, we have the capacity to build a lot of tyres in a very short time. We have the equipment, the skills and the time. We will keep working at it and we will find a way of building the business and making it stronger. There is a place in the Croatian market for Guma Protekt, for sure.”
Guma Protekt’s business is varied, car, light truck, 4x4, bus and truck, all from this single plant run by a small team of skilled craftsmen. “There is no shearography here,” Žarko Sinkovski says. “We can’t justify the cost and we thoroughly check every casing. The nail hole detector is a pretty good machine and it picks up those casings that we need to repair or those that we cannot use. We still have a very low claim rate.” Žarko Sinkovski has a large stock of moulds, as might be expected for such a wide market coverage, and he is still buying new moulds when the
MAY 24-28,2017 BOLOGNA,ITALY
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