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THAILAND
Indra’s retread plant in Thailand
second unit would be a bigger plant with a 3,000 tyre monthly capacity and it is likely to be functional in the next couple of years.” Currently, we are in the process of finding a suitable location for the second plant.
On the prospects for a hot cure retread plant in a changing market scenario that favours the precure process, he said; “Chonburi is part of the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), a pilot project targeting Chachoengsao, Chonburi and Rayong Provinces and which covers an area of over 13,000 Km. It envisages the economic development of Thailand’s Eastern Seaboard and indicates future possibilities for retreading in the region,” he stated.
These three provinces have been developed to support fast-growing industries.
The Thai government has launched measures to accelerate economic growth in the EEC, for instance, developing public utilities, transportation systems, logistics, human resources, and investor’s facilitation in the form of One-Stop Service Centers.
Sharing observation on the market further, he said, “Hot cure is still popular in the countryside, particularly in rural areas away from major cities like Bangkok. Despite decreasing volumes, hot cure will continue to survive in Thailand for years to come.”
with authorities imposing restrictions on overloading,
leading to increased tyre consumption in Chinese
domestic market.
Meanwhile, intervention
from Thai authorities such
as the implementation of
strict overloading measures
has also perked up the
domestic market.
“Thailand is imposing a
heavy penalty on
overloading, forcing fleet
operators to buy quality branded tyres and bringing positivity back in the new tyre as well as the retread market,” he pointed out. Branded tyres also improve the volumes of suitable quality casings for the retread industry, which are not easy to find due to the overwhelming presence of single-use tyres in the Thai market.
In addition to its retreading activities, Indra is the market leader in the
production of precured treads in Thailand. Currently, the plant manufactures 400 tons of tread rubber every month, with 100 tons consumed by the group operation and 300 tons exported to mainly to Turkey, Italy, South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia. The company also operates a 1,200 tyre OTR retreading plant in Kalimantan (Borneo) in neighbouring Indonesia.
Indra Hiking Retread Capacity
Thailand’s most diversified retreader, Indra Rubber, has invested in the latest retreading equipment during the last three years in order to upgrade its plant. The investment indicates that the Thai market is in the final stages of the slowdown cycle and is starting to recover after a 4-5 years lull. “We have invested about $1 million in the last 3 years adding new equipment like a Matteuzzi buffing machine, a VMI-AZ cushion gum to casing model, shearography machine, monorail system etc.” said Somchai Mongkoladisai, Managing Director, Indra Machinery Co Ltd.
Having first forayed into retreading in 1975, Indra Rubber, based at Nonthaburi in the Bangkok suburbs, retreads 4,000 tyre truck tyres and 100 OTR tyres per month. The plant is installed with three Ferlex autoclaves of 14, 18 and 25 tyres along with two OTR autoclaves of 2.5 and 3.5 metres diameter.
Indra Rubber has engaged in forward and backward integration, venturing into new segments and expanding its portfolio to remain in control of its highly competitive market. The company has also ventured into solid tyre retreading from the beginning of 2018. “We have installed a new line
Auto Care, a mid-sized retread plant based at Nang Rong in North East Thailand has expanded its business into a one-stop shop for tyre requirements in the light of declining retread volumes.
“We opened a new tyre outlet about a year ago at the retread plant to promote business as one-stop-shop offering whole tyre packages to fleet operators. Now, truckers can source new tyres and retread an older one, combined with offering services like tyre maintenance etc.,” said Thanasit Juengrueangsit, Managing Director, Auto Care. The company has been in the new tyre distribution business from last 35 years having tyre outlets in various locations.
The plant used to retread around 1,000 tyres each month before the onset
of sluggish cycle
about five years
ago, but now
volumes are down
to 500 tyres a
month. “We hope
the market will
improve in the
next couple of
years,” he said
optimistically.
The plant focuses
on truck tyre
retreads, and functions with both hot and precure retread options.
“Currently, we are retreading about 300 tyres per month by the precure process and 200 by the hot cure version,” he said. The company sources 1,000 to 1,500 kilos of tread rubber from Indra each month depending on consumption.
Despite declining retread volumes, however, the company still finds retreading to be a better tyre business than new tyre distribution. “Now, there are too many new tyre shops around, and all are importing to make a fast buck. There is hardly any profit left in the new tyre business.”
Thanasit Juengrueangsit, Managing Director, Auto Care
Somchai Mongkoladisai, Managing Director, Indra Machinery Co Ltd.
to retread 24 solid tyres each day from January this year,” he revealed. “We have also commenced segmented hot cure retreading of radials and invested in an all-new laser engraving machine for sidewall marking,” he further added.
On further expansion plans for the company, he stated, “The retread market has not been very good in the last three years with sales almost static, but from last year end volumes have started improving. It may be an initial sign of recovery.” In order to take advantage of this trend, Indra is planning to further hike plant capacity to meet future demand in line with the positive market trends indicated in the last six months. “We have ordered a fourth 25-tyre autoclave, which will further hike the production by about 1,000 tyres, bringing the capacity to 5,000 per month.”
Among factors that are bringing back drive into the retread market is the increasing price of Chinese tyres, he explained, “Hikes in tyre prices are leading to a dip in imports from China, which have flooded the domestic market during last five years.”
Tyre consumption in the domestic Chinese market has also increased,
Auto Care Transforms into One-Stop Shop
Retreading Business 37