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RUSSIA
Vladimir Annikov, general director of Remtransshina
according to Annikov. There were several major retreading plants launched in the country in recent years, and it is believed that they are doing not as well as the investors anticipated.
“We are serving our own fleet of 250 trucks as well as the local cargo carriers from Bryansk Oblast. I cannot say for sure how we would operate without our own fleet. I cannot rule out that in that case we would have to shut down our plant,” Annikov admitted.
As the economic ties between the former Sovtransavto branches grew weaker, the occupancy factor at the plant dropped. In better times, Remtransshina was retreading around 500 tyres per month. Now this figure is ranging between 150 and 200 tyres.
The company operates primarily with R22.5 tyres, but accepts various sizes, according to Annikov.
“As a rule, we purchase no casings from the market. We have our own fleet, and this provides us with ‘the working capital’. The only exception is that we may purchase casings, when they are available, for semitrailers. Experience tells us that these tyres are in high demand, as on our roads they get damaged quite often,” Annikov said.
There are a few companies in Russia that collect high-quality casings. Remtransshina has partners in Moscow and St. Petersburg to purchase casings whenever necessary. In the Russian retreading industry, it is a common knowledge that there is an acute shortage of high-quality casings, which is primarily associated with what is described as ‘the bad attitude’ of transport companies in regard to their tyres.
“Basically, when working with our customers we prefer to perform retreading as a service. Our fleet accounts for 50 per cent of tyres retreaded at our plant,” Annikov estimated.
Although most clients are transport companies, Remtransshina also works with municipal transport companies in the city of Bryansk,
retreading some bus tyres. The common approach is that they run on new tyres during the summer season and install retreaded tyres for the winter season, according to Annikov.
Surprisingly, there are also problems with the quality of some of the non- Russian casings. In particular, retreaders complain that Continental casings are not as good as they used to be. There are some problems with the internal rubber layer, where some cracks may emerge for reasons that are not fully clear.
Remtransshina has a strict traceability system and, in particular, it is monitoring the performance of all retreaded tyres, in order to reveal some wear patterns.
Russian Casings
It is remarkable that on its own fleet the company installs primarily Russian tyres, Cordiant Professional. Unlikely many other retreaders who prefer to not accept casings under any Russian brands, Remtransshina retreads primarily these tyres. The company was absolutely satisfied with the quality of the casings until recently.
“Just recently we faced a problem of numerous blow outs from the retreaded Cordiant tyres for semitrailers. It is still not clear where this comes from. The casings probably cannot withstand the pressure, as the blowout happens in the undertread band. There were quite a few incidents and we had to invite the technical consultant from Cordiant to find out the source of the problem”.
All other tyres under Cordiant brands are working without a hitch, but this problem with semitrailer tyres caused some headache for the retreading plant.
In Russia, Cordiant has very favourable conditions for doing business with transport companies and retreaders. In particular, the tyre manufacturer provides a high-quality service, a one-year warranty on each tyre and even pays a small reimbursement to retreaders, when
some problem with the casings is revealed. “There is a certain scheme of how this is all organised. All in all, it was very comfortable to do business with them, before this story with tyre blowouts. Though, I’m pretty sure that Cordiant will sort out this problem, because this is a respectable company. Cordiant exports tyres to Europe and Asia, and similar things outside Russia could incur some reputational losses to the company. They are putting all effort to find the source of the problem and eliminate it”.
It is quite fair to say that retreaders in Russia have to compete with cheap tyres, including those imported from China. Basically, they are not designed to be retreaded, but some transport companies still bring the Chinese casings in for retreading.
retreader to look for some cheaper alternatives on the domestic market. “We made some calculations and it turned out that with the new prices the retreaded tyres had the price equal to the new tyres. So, it was simply not profitable to continue business as before. Thus, we had to shift to cheaper treads. We made some tests, were satisfied with the results, and eventually moved away from Bandag,” Annikov said. However, the price situation has changed since that time, and now Annikov believes that it may be feasible to start using Bandag tread again.
“I was recently talking with the owner of a retreading plant from Nizhny Novgorod, who told me that he was very happy working with Bandag. We were very happy too in
“In this case, we retread tyres, but we give no warranty. We also try to look very carefully at these tyres during the incoming inspection. They could pass, but anyway the final result is not our responsibility. There are some premium Chinese brands that could be retreaded, while there are also some no-name brands that could bring the customer significant problems,” Annikov explained.
“For some time, we were retreading Kama casings. They were very good, but as I exchange information with other retreaders in Russia, they say that they also have to deal with certain problems when retreading casings under the Kama brand. So, it is unclear whether there is a common trend among the Russian tyre companies that the casing quality is getting worse, or maybe there is another reason,” Annikov added.
Back to Bandag
Since the early days Remtransshina has been purchasing Bandag raw materials. The successful cooperation lasted for more than two decades, but ended in 2007, when strong fluctuations in the exchange rate of the Russian currency pushed the
the past. Basically, I believe Bandag provides the best treads and other materials. In terms of quality it is terrific,” he added.
Annikov explained that he came to this plant when it opened and started as an ordinary worker. He later became shift foreman and then the general director. Over these years he dealt with raw materials from various suppliers, but nothing was better than Bandag.
“We tried everything that was available on the Russian market. Now we use Nokian Noktop. It is comparable with Bandag in terms of quality and mileage. We also occasionally purchase treads from Marangoni and Bandamatic,” Annikov revealed.
In general, it is important to have several different options on the stock, because some customers may have their own preferences, when it comes to the raw materials. Speaking about the future, Annikov admitted that it is rather vague. The demand for retreading tyres is limited and it is not clear when market conditions would improve.
50 Retreading Business