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UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
convert its tyre retread site into a Truck Servicing Centre, where all services related to truck care are offered alongside hot and cold retreading.
start with retreading.”
Later, Tyre Care spread its business to new tyres, rubber moulding, tyre repairs, batteries and oil etc and manages a one-
“Demand for hot retreads has further improved and four additional moulds were procured in December 2018 but have not been installed as yet,” said Sree T K of United Tyres.
Competition has intensified in Abu Dhabi and the company is coming under increased pressure due to major fleet owners forcing retread plants to consider site relocation. “The owners are considering shifting their sites to locations in Dubai due to dampening sales in Abu Dhabi,” he confided.
Moreover, the company’s owners are based in Dubai and own space there, a further reason for relocating the plant and installing all eight moulds there. “The plant would likely to be shifted later this year,” he confirmed.
Due to ongoing stagnation in
reduced by a third,” complained Sree.
Major transport companies in Abu Dhabi have also shut down their operations in last few years, affecting retreaders’ output. “We have lost the accounts of around 10 major fleets in the past few years,” he added.
Fleet owners like Al Ula and AL Jabar have closed down their operations with several others operating under distress. These have been United Tyres’ major clients, providing around 700 tyres each month. The distress of the major fleets is due to the fact that that even fleet owners’ invoices are not paid on time, with payments pending from government bodies leading to the closure of fleet operations. The fleets are dependent on the government work, with construction projects relating
Ninan Daniel, Managing Director, Tyre Care Plus LLC
“It is difficult to survive in retreading as an independent business entity, and it is a much better business preposition to offer it as a part of a whole tyre servicing package,” believes Ninan Daniel, Managing Director, Tyre Care Plus LLC. The Abu Dhabi based retreading firm has conversion plans in the pipeline but is awaiting improvements in market conditions. “We may implement the plan but it all depends on the market scenario, which is not really in favour of any expansion,” he said.
The site used to retread 2,000 tyres per month, consuming one container of MRF tread rubber each month about a decade ago, but now production has dropped to merely 300 tyres a month. Tyre Care forayed into retreading in 2004 but with depleting retreading volumes has expanded into the new tyre business over the course of the last five years. “We are nostalgic about retreading as it was the first business started in the UAE by us. Initially, selling new tyres was difficult for us so we decided to
stop auto maintenance outlet. Currently, the company operates a precure site with plans to expand into conventional retreading in the near future. “Retreading by the traditional process is also in the pipeline as currently, we are curently restricted to the precure version. With the market for hot retreading increasing, it is logical for us to expand in that segment, and it is also part of the Truck Tyre Servicing Centre,” he said. The company already has three quotations from Chinese suppliers for hot moulds.
The retreading industry believes that international tyre producers should come forward to the rescue of the retreading industry. According to Daniel, “International tyre prices remain high despite raw material prices being down and petroleum prices crashing globally during the last couple of years. New tyre producers should invest in enlightening the customers about the retreadability of tyres multiple times at the time of selling.”
the precure segment, United Tyres sold off two autoclaves in 2018 and now operates the cold process on a single 11-tyre chamber.
Established in 1994 on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, United Tyres retreads about 500 tyres per month by both processes. With the overall markethas been disturbed due to the presence of low-priced imported casings, production has consistently dropped in the last 6-7 years. “This plant retreaded 1,500 tyres each month in 2010-11 with daily production of 68 tyres, but now the production has been
to Expo 2020 over either completed or in the final stages. This has impacted the movement of fleets and production at retread sites.
United Tyres Considering Site Shift
With demand for hot retreads improving in the United Arab Emirates, retreaders are expanding into the mould cure
sector accordingly. Abu Dhabi based United Tyres forayed into the hot process in August 2017 by installing four moulds.
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