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CHINESE TYRES
European Retreading Needs Action on Tyre Dumping
Is the statement that European retreading is in crisis an overstatement? Make your minds up for yourselves. In the past couple of years we have seen a spate of closures across Europe, and even where there were few closures, the market has been in decline, whilst at the same time the sale of new tyres has been on the increase. These are facts borne out by studies carried out
by BIPAVER members.
The decline can be seen in the German market in this chart from BRV
Does it matter if retreads are on the decline? The market is still buying new tyres; So, what is the problem?
Retreading extends the life of a new tyre, it ca n extend the life, through a single retreading, by up to 200,000 km, maybe more. That
lowers the costs per kilometre to the haulier, and lowers the environmental impact of every tyre in use being a new tyre. We are all familiar with the litres of oil, natural rubber, chemical and energy saved in the use of a retread over a new tyre, yet governments need to be continually reminded of these savings and how they help with reducing raw materials use. Retreads absolutely fall into the waste hierarchy or reduce, reuse, as priorities.
However, we all know that the environment is not the be-all and end-all for governments, so what other impacts does retreading have in Europe?
There are clear economic impacts. Let’s take the easiest to measure first. Employment – the retread sector across Europe employs somewhere around 32,000 staff and creates around 1.2 billion Euro of economic benefit. According to Ernst & Young 2016, the retread sector in the top five nations – Germany, UK, France, Spain and Italy, supports more people than the new tyre industry
in those markets.
So, why is there such a decline?
It has long been held that cheap imports are the cause, but what do the statistics say? Those who have been around long enough will recall when players in the developed markets of the UK and Germany, in particular, complained about cheap imports from the “new” Eastern European producers. Polish passenger car retreads undercut UK car retreads in particular, and in Germany the PCT market was hit, but in some areas also the truck and bus sector – some German retreaders started buying in Polish retreads and only produced premium products in their own plants. That was the start of the decline.
In the UK, car tyre retreading was on its knees 20 years ago, leaving just one or two car tyre retreaders, today, only one survives. However, the competition from Eastern Europe was nothing compared to that from new tyres produced in China. It would be incorrect to classify all Chinese tyres as low
The Decline can be seen in the German market in this chart from BR
RETREADING MATERIALS