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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Emirates Tyres to Add Third Tread Brand
process has been forced on the retreading industry and is now making a comeback in a market that had almost completely adopted the precure process. “Authorities are troubling fleets operating on tyres retreaded by the precure process. Moreover, the hot process gives almost a new look to tyres, as the finishing is better, and authorities fail to detect if it is a new tyre or retread tyre.”
On the subject of investment in the new project, Shukoor added, “We are investing around $150,000 in installing hot presses.”
The owners of the company have yet to decide on hot rubber imports
and are considering sourcing them from either India or Malaysia but are likely to end up with India as the lead time is less compared to Malaysia, and it is also available locally from the Tolins site in Ras Al Khaimah.
Top Tyres had also opened a retread site in Egyptian city of Alexandria. The plant shut down about two years ago due to difficult market conditions, when it was retreading about 300 tyres each month. “Margins were high, but casing availability is always a huge issue as fleets run on tyres till they are completely worn out,” Shukoor revealed.
UAE based retreader Emirates Tyre Factory is looking to expend its tread offering by adding a third tread brand.
The company normally sources two brands of tread rubber, namely Midas and Hitech, offering Hitech at AED 300 and Midas at AED 350 depending on the paying capacity. However, the company says it plans to start selling Tolins tread in the next few months to further expand its brand basket as the Tolins product is locally available.
“We retread about 400 tyres by the precure system and outsource about 250 tyres by the hot process each month,” said Mahmoud Subuh of Emirates Tyres Factory LLC. When the market used to be at its peak about four years ago, the plant retreaded more than 1,000 tyres each month by the precure process. The company has recently started promoting Falconer brand of tyres in the UAE market. “We get the tyres manufactured as per our specs in China. As tyres from China are in
great demand in the UAE, we thought its better idea to get them manufactured there and market them under our own brand,” he confided. “Business is now getting very tough and we continue to find ways to survive,” he stressed. “Our focus is to maintain current volumes, recovering the money from the market and retaining customers.”
Ozone Invests in Retreading Site
with In-House Tyre Repair Facility
Mahmoud Subuh of Emirates Tyres Factory LLC
Mohmmed Mohmmed, Managing Partner at the new retreading venture Ozone Manufacturing Tyre LLC
Top Tyres Commence Hot Retreading
Despite reverses in
the UAE retreading
sector, there are
people willing to take
the risk and are all set
for a new beginning.
A complete retreading
venture that offers
both hot and cold
retreading along with
OTR and truck tyre
repairing is about to
begin at Ajman, about
30 km from Dubai.
“We know there is
risk involved, but we
have been in the rubber business for many years, and this is what we know,” said Mohmmed Mohmmed, Managing Partner at new retreading venture Ozone Manufacturing Tyre LLC.
The plan was at the drawing board stage for a long time to assure an ideal retread foray that offers everything under one roof. “Tyre repairing offers huge growth opportunities, and only a few companies are active in the business. Repairing is carried out with world class Rema Tip Top equipment, and we have installed two machines at the new site,” said Mohmmed.
On asking from where the casings come for repair, when the market is flooded with Chinese tyres. “We have a lot of queries on the repairing side, and there is a market for repair. Chinese tyres are an issue as people may not be willing to pay for repairing Chinese casings,” agreed Mohmmed.
Currently, only two companies offer tyre repairing in the UAE market with Al Dobowi having two machines and another company with one machine. There are others doing it with local machinery and not doing the perfect job. Ozone is going to be the third plant offering OTR & truck tyre repairs with Rema
Tip Top in the UAE.
When asked when the plant is expected to commence production, Mohmmed replied, “The production will be in full swing from the first week of February.”
The plant is also installed with a 6- tyre autoclave sourced from Indian equipment maker Hightech with other machines from Rajmahal. Three moulds for hot curing are
also installed. The plant is expecting to retread 800 tyres each month with 500 tyres by the precure process and 300 by the hot system. The company is starting its retreading venture at a time when the market conditions are adverse and the credit scenario in the market is alarmingly high, but the owners strongly believe, “We know the safe pockets in terms of companies as we have been in the rubber and tyre business for the last two decades, besides which we do not have to pay rent as the plant is owned by us.” The new site plans
to cater to the whole UAE market. On how they arrange suitable casings for retreading, Mohmmed assured, “We know the casing scenario is tough, but we hope to manage on the strength of nurturing long relationships in the market.”
Ajman based Top Tyres is all set to introduce the conventional hot process in its Ajman based site. Demand for tyres retreaded by the hot process is on the rise in the UAE market, opening up new opportunities for local retreaders. Established in 1991, Top Tyres retreads 1,200 truck tyres per month by the precure process but has now decided to foray into the hot process from the middle of February as the company is in the midst of installing hot presses imported from Indiana Machine Industries, Bengaluru.
“We are installing four presses and targeting 800 tyres by the hot process each month, taking total production to 2,000 tyres,” informed Usman Babu, Managing Director, Top Tyres. The plant is already installed with two 8-tyre autoclaves and is sourcing rubber from Tolins and Jianxin Rubber.
On what led Top Tyres to introduce the hot process, Abdul Shukoor, Managing Partner, Top Tyres commented: “It is all due to the market shift towards the conventional version.”
It has been observed that the hot
Usman Babu (red shirt) with Abdul Shukoor, partners in Top Tyres
38 Retreading Business