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each month once the required equipment is installed at the Gebze plant.
The plant operates on locally made autoclaves and uses around 260 tonnes of tread liner annually, with brand ranges including Vipal, Ruzi, Kraiburg, Acten and various locally produced brands.
A key part of the company’s expansion strategy is to start production of tread rubber by 2019. “We are looking for technical support from foreign companies for our tread liner foray,” confirmed Ismail.
A large chunk of vacant land
adjoining to existing plant would be used for further expansion. “We have enough space for plant expansion here, and we will put in another shed for tread-liner production,” he said.
Commenting on the future of retreading in Turkey vis-à-vis the expansion of the facility, 􏰀smail commented; “Increasing tyre prices and construction projects in various parts of the country will only spur tyre retread volumes in Turkey in the years to come, and our expansion is in line with the evolving scenario.”
Ankara plant and retreads around 300 units annually. It also manufactures precure tread at the Ankara plant and has an installed capacity of 2,000 tonnes, although current production is around 700 tonnes, of which the company consumes 600 tonnes itself, the remainder being sold to its two franchisees located in Turkey and Oman. The company says it has plans to expand its franchisee base in the near future. “We have plans to open five franchisees in the coming months,” informed Şevket. The Ankara unit has three autoclaves for the
retreading of TBR tyres by the precure process as well as 10 presses for retreading OTR tyres by the conventional hot process. “We can retread OTR tyres from 24 inch to up to 57 inch. The plant is also equipped with two autoclaves for ORBIT tread retreading,” said Şevket.
Ako Lastik also have a tyre JV with Japans’ Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI), according to which the Japanese partner opened its first tyre factory in
Turkey. The JV incorporated as Sumitomo Rubber AKO Lastik Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (SAT for short) and started the production of PCR tyres at a factory located in Çankiri Province (140 km north- east of Ankara) in 2015. Sumitomo holds a majority 80 per cent stake in the $500 million plant.
Ako Lastik also manufactures PCR, TBR, OTR, and aircraft tyres under the private brand PETLAS for the Turkish and overseas market. It also produces car batteries under the Ako brand and tyre rims for PCR, TBR and agricultural tyres.
Şevket Bacaci, General Manager, Ako Lastik Kaplama San. Ve Tic. A.Ş
Ako Lastik Targets 50,000 Retreads in 2017
Ankara based Ako Lastik has ambitious growth plans with the company targeting retread production of 50,000 units yearly in. 2017. Ako first forayed into tyre retreading in 1993, and its mother plant at Ankara retreaded 30,000 tyres in 2016. “We are targeting 40,000 retreads the from main Ankara plant and 10,000 units from three other plants outside Ankara,” said Şevket Bacaci, General
Manager, Ako Lastik Kaplama San. Ve Tic. A.Ş.
The other three plants are based at Istanbul, Denizli (an industrial city in the southwestern part of Turkey) and Mersin (A port city in Southern Turkey on the Mediterranean coast). When asked how the company would increase production, Şevket replied, “We will increase service points to reach the target.”
Ako also retreads OTR tyres at the
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