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SOUTH AMERICA
Renobras Invests to Meet Market Demand for Increased Quality
Sao Paulo based retreader Renobras has announced that it is investing 700,000 Reais in new equipment including a new buffer from Vipal and an extruder as part of a plan to increase production and to adapt the factory to the latest market requirements. According to Director Luis Felipe Zampieri Justo the Vipal retreader currently produces 15,000
retreads per year, but plans to increase this first to 18,000 and ultimately to 20,000. The new Vipal buffer will be installed in the coming weeks.
According to Zampieri, Renobras, which switched from Bandag to Vipal in 2013 and which also retreads under Pirelli’s Novateck brand, suffered a decline during 2015/16
due to the difficulties caused by the economic crisis, but sales are now beginning to grow again.
“There are a lot of opportunities in the Sao Paulo region,” he said. “We have the strongest regional economy in Brazil here. “Renobras services clients within a 100km radius of Sao Paulo including the biggest cities in the state. The company’s client base consists primarily of truck and bus fleets, but covers a wide range of fleet sizes including many owner drivers. Now, with fleet consolidation becoming a more prevalent trend in Brazil, Renobras is looking to grow into bigger fleets.
“The larger fleets tend to be more professional,” said Zampieri, “and they tend to be more aware of quality. Our latest investments aim to address this market requirement.”
For Zampieri, one of the key issues facing quality retreaders in Brazil, is the issue of regulations and the overall image of retreading. “Unfortunately, the retread sector in Brazil is not universally seen as green, and the general public does not see retreading as a good thing. The industry does not have the correct message,” he explained. “In addition, the Government does not do much to enforce regulations, which is not helpful as many retreaders do not have the standard. They just offer cheap prices. As a result, there is lots of price pressure in the market. The Government lacks the resources to deal with this problem,” he added. “I believe it’s incumbent on fleets to choose suppliers that meet all the legal requirements.”
Luis Felipe Zampieri Justo (left) with father Delco and brother Rafael.