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NEPAL
Kathmandu to Pokhara,” informed Bishnu Hari Acharya, Executive Director, Gandakey franchisee Kantipur Cold Retread (Pvt) Ltd.
The earlier location had become highly congested and there was no room for parking large trucks. “We are now strategically located right on the main highway. We now have ample space for parking for vehicles that stop here and get their tyres retreaded,” he added. The new facility is owned by the Gandakey Group, whereas the previous plant was in
rented premises.
Currently, market conditions are slow, and retreaders are hoping the market will pick up by end of the year. The road infrastructure is under construction at Trisuli funded by the Chinese government, and a new route has been opened through the border town of Kurung on the Chinese side. “Once the market stabilises, there is plan to open a plant at both Trisuli and Kurung in the next couple of years,” confided Acharya.
Marketing Head, Lion Rubber Industries.
Lion produces 25,000 kg tread rubber each month and operates through 10 dealers throughout the country. “We are keen on increasing the production but we cannot compete with Indian rubber in terms of quality,” he said. When asked where Nepali rubber lags, he explained, “We lag in quality compared to Indian products, but our rates are highly competitive being 30 per cent below that of Indian tread rubber,” he said.
Lion makes rubber for all types of tyre ranging from motorcycle to JCB tyres, and it is soon to commence the production of solutions also.
Lion Industries is part of Nepali conglomerate Sharda Group, which is one of the largest private industrial and trading conglomerates in the country with an annual turnover in excess of US $150 million. Since 1970, the company has been involved
in a wide spectrum of industrial operations, manufacturing and trading products, ranging from industrial goods to consumer durables and non-durables.
Keeping in mind the market demand for rubber retreads, the unit at Premier Complex in Duhabi (in SE Nepal) has been developed and expanded with different units of rubber related products in its portfolio. The unit caters primarily to the needs of the tyre retread industry and rice mills.
The introduction of modern technology in producing rice rubber rolls and polishers has further upgraded Sharda Group’s rubber division. It has the potential to handle any sort of rubber-oriented works related with mixing, pulverising, calendering, extraction and manufacturing rubber for cold and hot retreading besides bonding gum, flaps and door mats.
Machapuchare Tyre to Expand Kathmandu Plant
Despite the small market and low volumes, several Nepalese retreaders are indicating plans to further expand their retread capacity by adding new equipment. Machapuchare Tyre is an example of this and is adding one more autoclave to its Kathmandu based pre-cure plant.
“We have one four-tyre chamber and have ordered another three-tyre autoclave from a Kerala based retreading equipment maker. We have just ordered, and it soon will be on the way. We expect it to be installed in the next couple of months,” informed Hari Sharma, Managing Partner, Machapuchare Tyre, named after the Machapuchare mountain in the Annapurna Himalayas of North Central Nepal.
The decade old retreading plant retreads about 2,000 tyres yearly of all kinds, like mini and large TBRs. “The existing single chamber is over- burdened, therefore, we are installing the second three tyre chamber. The
second autoclave would also increase the volumes by 1,500 tyres annually,” he said. The plant operates from rented premises and has acquired space for further expansion. Machapuchare has two retreading plants, one in the middle of Kathmandu and another in a location called Swayambhu in the western part of the capital. Both the plants have a mix of Indian machinery from companies like Elgi, Indag and Unitech and are using tread rubber from Midas and Indag. The unit in Swamyambhu retreads between 2,000 to 2,500 tyres annually.
On the state of the market, he commented; “There is market for retreading in Nepal, but it is being flooded by low volume unregistered plants retreading at very low prices.” The company has further plans to set- up the third unit in Terai belt. “There is potential in the Terai region with hardly any quality retread units in that area of Nepal,” added Sharma.
Metro Expands in Smaller Towns
With most industrial activity confined mainly to major cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara, Nepalese retreaders are now looking for new towns in which to expand. These remote towns are currently catered for by the plants located in major cities, but with surging traffic problems in the crowded cities, the retread companies are looking for markets which, although currently small in size, have the potential to evolve as sustainable markets in the future.
The family-run Kathmandu based Metro Tyres & Trade Pvt Ltd have a number of independent plants spread over Nepal. “We have just opened a new retreading plant in Bardiya Pass, which has started producing around 100 tyres each month. We hope the plant will soon improve volumes,” said Basanta Raj Banjara, Executive Director, Metro Tyre & Trade Pvt Ltd.
Bardiya Pass is located in the Western-Terai area of Nepal known
for the Bardiya National Park, which covers an area of 968 square kilometres. The family has four additional plants with the biggest in Kathmandu producing 200-250 tyres, Tulsipur averaging between 150-200 tyres, Ghorahi about 100 tyres and Surkhet around 150 tyres each month respectively.
“We use all kinds of tread like Midas, Tolins, Mahima and Capital from India, as well as Lion from Nepal. All these treads are suited to different terrains as well as being segmented according to the paying capacity of the fleet owner,” he explained.
The group has plans to open similar low volume plants in three more locations in the next year. “We are planning plants in Narayangadh (a key trading center in Central – South Nepal), Hetauda (Southern Nepal) and Butwal (Western Nepal) in the next year. We have observed there is potential to grow in these towns,” he added.
Hari Sharma, Managing Partner, Machapuchare Tyre
Nepalese Tread Brand Lion Competes with Indian Suppliers
Fleet Owner Forays into Retreading
Nepal’s retreading marketing is largely controlled by the Indian tread rubber with brands like Elgi, Midas and Indag holding the majority market share. Interestingly, there is absolutely no presence of Chinese tread or equipment in the Nepalese market. But it doesn’t mean that local brands do not exist at all.
Lion Rubber Industries is perhaps the most prominent home grown tread rubber brand. “About a decade ago, Nepalese rubber had a sizable share in the domestic market, but in last 8- 9 years Indian rubber brands started dominating the market, and they continue to retain the dominant share,” said Narahari Khanal,
A transporter in the remote Sindhuli district, which is about 160 km from the capital Kathmandu, forayed into retreading at the end of 2015. Sindhuli District is a part of Province No. 3, one of the seventy-five districts of Nepal. “We have a fleet of seven trucks, and there is no retread plant in our remote area, therefore, we
decided to set-up a retread plant to service our truck tyres and later expanded it to cater to the outside market also,” said Jiwan Shrestha of Sidhagadhi Tread.
The plant is located on the B P Koirala Highway, also known as the Banepa Bardibas Highway in Eastern Nepal linking Kathmandu Valley with
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