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INDIA
Indian market with the improving acceptability of retreading,” he said. Indag exports mainly to the three countries – Kenya, Nepal and Bhutan.
However, it now looks beyond these three markets over to the Middle East. “We are in touch with a few people in the UAE & Qatar and hope to open those two markets soon.”
The tread maker plans to expand its network in the Southern part of the country particularly in the State of Karnataka in 2018. It supplies to 800 plus retreaders, dealers and stockists spread all over India.
Indag has created an entire radial tyre series under the brand ‘Zoma’ and received positive response from the domestic market. “We introduced the ‘Zoma’ series about 3 years back initially for the truck and bus radials (TBR) only. But given the
enthusiastic response from the market, Zoma has been expanded to include Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) and Utility radials too,” he explained. Indag claims Zoma tread is as good as a new tyre and offers 95 per cent of the new tyre performance.
The erstwhile partner of Bandag has expanded its product range by adding an OTR range last year. “We have started manufacturing tread belt for OTR size 1400/25 in 2017. The product launched a few months back is merely 2 per cent of the total tread production,” Bhalla informed. On introducing the OTR range Bhalla said, “The OTR market is growing consistently and the expansion of our range is to cater for this segment. Indag has received positive feedback for the recently launched OTR range.”
was easier to operate from Chandigarh. “But now with GST in place, Delhi is more central to cater for the market in Uttar Pradesh (India’s largest state),” he said.
Elgi continues to open new markets outside India for retread consumables. “New markets are built over performance, and it takes time to build and it is always a challenge to sell on the basis of performance. We have lot of credibility in the hi-end markets of US or Europe, where our product performance is tested before adoption,” he emphasised. For example, even an envelope is tested for its claimed performance of 300 cures, therefore, markets are built up over the years.
Elgi opened the Australian market for retread consumables at the end of 2016. “It is an evolving market for us, where we operate through our distributor,” he adds.
On the consumables side, the company has no presence in the East of India or the Far Eastern market. “It is again a price-sensitive market,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Elgi showcased a wide range of new products at the show; like the ultra - series outside and inside envelope for retread curing systems that consistently delivers a lower cost-per-cure in the modern retreading system, increases productivity and decreases miss- cures to improve the bottom line. “We have also launched wicking pads that have a high elasticity compound to eliminate tread deformations. They are more durable over cloth wick pads and can be used repeatedly,” explained S Shankar Vadivel, GM, Sales and Distribution, Elgi Rubber Company Limited. Elgi also showcased a new range in mini extruders and envelope spot vulcanisers.
‘Indian Retread Market Coping with Tight Liquidity’ – Sudarsan Varadaraj
Retreader Expands in Tyre Repairs
India is a large country and the retread industry might be growing for the organised sector in some parts of the country but at the same there are pockets experiencing a slowdown. Even in the organised sector, retreaders are feeling the pinch and are being forced to scale down operations. But adverse market sentiments also led them to introduce new ideas.
A prominent Elgi franchisee based in the West Indian state of Rajasthan has acquired expertise in tyre repair. Marudhar Tyre & Treads Pvt Ltd has a long association with Elgi, but experienced a downturn in the retreading business over the last couple of years. It has two plants; one in the state capital of Jaipur and another about 60 km away at Shahpur on the Delhi-Jaipur highway.
“We have experienced a consistent decline in volumes over the last couple of years with both the plants together retreading around 1,500 tyres each month,” said Krishna P Mathur, Sales & Production Manager, Marudhar Tyre & Treads Pvt Ltd at Tyrexpo 2018.
With declining volumes, Marudhar expanded into tyre repair and acquired expertise in repairing tyre injuries. “We have now decent volumes from cut repairs, as it is a highly specialised job not offered by everyone in the market,” he claimed. The company repairs about 900 tyres each month.
The retreader has a highly trained tyre repair workforce, not easy to find in India, which first understands the reasons of tyre injuries; such as how it spreads into the casings,
driving habits; for example, overloading, high speed, low speed and repair accordingly.
“Tyre repair tools are expensive and require a wide stock to repair different types of tyre injuries,” he adds. The company offers retread and repair services to TBR, LCV & OTRs.
With tyre prices firming-up in India due to anti-dumping duty on the Chinese tyres, repair offers good margins. “Cut repairs are now quite popular among small fleet operators as tyre prices maintain an upward trend and road conditions are not always good, resulting in tyre injuries. Instead of replacing a casing, operators prefer to get it repaired,” he explained.
Sudarsan Varadaraj, Chairman & Managing Director, Elgi Rubber Company Limited
The Indian retread market might be opening up and the retread process transforming towards the next level with plants getting modernised. However, one of the most trusted brands in the sector has a different take on the evolving scenario and has observed that price continues to play major role in the Indian market. “The Indian retread market is becoming more price sensitive as the number of customers opting for the ‘cost per kilometre’ system is dwindling,” believes Sudarsan Varadaraj, Chairman and Managing Director, Elgi Rubber Company Limited, in a discussion with Retreading Business at Tyrexpo India 2018.
The global retread major has seen an organised customer base erosion in the recent past. “We are compensating the business from other areas as the customer base
continues to shrink,” he stated. Elgi has one of the widest product ranges in the retreading sector with a loyal customer base in the domestic and international market.
“The cash flow scenario is still tight in the market, until it eases up customers will not opt for quality products,” he said. The Indian market is still coping with liquidity owing to demonetisation and the implementation of GST nationwide in the last two years.
The tread and equipment maker finds that the tight liquidity in the market puts fleet owners in a fix. “Transporters, or end users, are also under pressure from their customer base due to the liquidity issue,” feels Varadaraj.
Meanwhile, Elgi has brought its North India operation from Chandigarh to Delhi, as during the CST (Central Sales Tax) regime, it
Krishna P Mathur, Sales & Production Manager, Marudhar Tyre & Treads Pvt Ltd
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