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SOUTH AMERICA
Tyre building at Durapol
Durapol Looks to Invest and Consolidate at Ipiranga Facility
Ipiranga based retreader Durapol has been active in the retreading market for 40 years, and as such it is a typical example of a long- standing traditional retreader. Over the years, it has manufactured retreads under the Bandag and Ruzi banners and now uses Vipal and
the local region as well as through the company’s 12 truck centres. The company also recently acquired a Vipal retreader in San Vicente in order to gain a foothold in that area. The San Vicente factory is much smaller, retreading only 700 tyres per month, although
Durapol’s Samuel Delamuta
Novateck brands. However, the company is also somewhat atypical in that the company is part of a large retail group, Dellavia Pneus, which operates 70 retail shops selling car and truck tyres across four states, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Parana and Bahia. We spoke to Managing Director Samuel Delamuta about his plans to develop the company’s retread business and how he views the challenges faced by retreaders in Brazil at the moment.
Delamuta plans to increase production to around 850 tyres per month.
Delamuta’s ambitions for Durapol’s retreading business is based on his observations of the consolidation currently taking place in the Brazilian retreading industry. “We are seeing a lot of acquisitions and joint ventures, and we can see the need to invest and modernise. It is clear that retreaders need to reduce the costs of production, and the investments needed to do this are
keen to expand Durapol’s current facility but concedes the company will need a new site. When asked whether the company had plans to expand into areas where Dellavia had retails outlets, he pointed out that it was preferable to have a larger production on a single site. “We don’t want to split the production,” he explained. We also need to be strong in the Sao Paulo area.”
In order to meet this challenge Durapol has acquired a new buffer from Vipal, which was expected to be installed at the end of February. The company also has purchased a VMI-AZ cushion gum extruder, which is waiting to be installed.
On the subject of the key challenges being faced by retreaders in the Brazilian market, Delamuta expresses the view that the quality of many retreaders remains a problem, as does casing quality. “New tyres are getting more mileage and are being used too long,” he opined. “Budget tyres are also often not good enough for retreading. The trick is to find customers who can offer a good retreading potential, but for this we need a professional team, which means we need to invest in training and development, all of which means additional cost.” Durapol employs 56 people including 30 in the factory, plus 10 more in San Vicente.
NSA Pneutec Looks to Grow Production
Vipal retreader NSA Pneutec is among Brazil’s largest retreaders, processing around 4,500 tyres a month at its main plant in Santana do Parnaiba near Sao Paulo and a further 1,000 at a second plant in Guarulhos. However, the company,
which was recently appointed as a Goodyear distributor, is now aiming to expand its business so that it can increase production by a further 2,000 tyres per month.
According to Director Sidney Claro, who is in charge of the company’s
The Durapol factory at Ipiranga
Sidney Claro of NSA Pneutec (centre) works closely with main tread supplier Vipal
Durapol currently operates two retreading factories. The main plant in Ipiranga produces 4,000 tyres per month, the tyres being sold in
often not possible for smaller retreaders, so there is a general need for bigger structures.” With this in mind, Delamuta is
36 Retreading Business