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ESTONIA
the new labels were set to include the supplier name or trademark, the commercial name, QR code and new parameters for snow and ice grip. There is also reorganisation for rolling resistance and wet grip classes with some adjustments for the noise arcs.
Why the change? Anadón stated that there were varying reasons, but the change was mostly motivated by a need to improve the label’s effectiveness due to poor visibility,
until now there are no transitional provisions.”
“In the future, we believe that there will be the possibility to include information on mileage and abrasion as parameters for the labels, as well as incorporating retreaded tyres into the scope of the regulations.”
Alejandro Rodriguez’s speech gave retreaders the latest information on the UN R108 and UN R109 regulations in relation to snow performance for passenger and truck and bus tyres respectively. Of particular importance to retreaders would have been the worst-case scenario for type approval. This concerned Rodriguez explaining the worst-case scenario for snow grip in classes: C1, C2 and C3, before moving on to explain about the type approval procedure for retreaders.
Salvador Perez Lucena from INSA TURBO was also present as he delivered a speech, whereby he took on a top-to-bottom cost analysis to retread manufacturers.
In terms of environmental legislation, Climélia Silva from Valorpneu and Javier de Jesus of TNU updated the attendees on the latest regulations that are due to affect the retreading sector.
Final remarks and speeches were also delivered by Salvador Perez and José Gomes on behalf of AER and ANIRP as they closed a successful first joint-conference.
retreading plant, in Voka, close to Johvi, the capital of Ida-Viru County in North-Eastern Estonia, 50 km west of the Russian border and only a few km from the sea coast. Thanks to this geographical location, the
this issue. As we were the last ones to come to this market, our main objective was not to make as many retreaded tyres as we could, but to make good retreaded tyres in order, let’s say, to break the stereotypes,”
Sergei Polujanenkov, general director of Wolf Tyres
Vipal sponsored the conference
ongoing non-compliance due to weak enforcement, low end-user tyre label awareness, and a desire to promote fuel efficiency and energy consumption.
On the legislation Anadón said, “we are working towards the prospect of having the legislation approved by March and implemented in July. Up
company is able to supply retreaded tyres not only to the domestic market, but also to offer them abroad.
“We are retreading only passenger tyres and light commercial vehicle tyres. We were thinking of the truck tyre segment, but we took a look at our competitors, and there are many really strong competitors in this industry in the Baltic countries, so we decided to begin with passenger tyres. It is yet to be decided which way we could further develop,” Gerasimov added.
Not the easiest market
Basically, it is believed that the tyre retreading market in the Baltic countries has been under strong pressure over the past few years. Numerous companies in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia went bankrupt or were closed by their owners for different reasons, the most important of which was the rapid inflow of cheap
Chinese tyres. In the passenger tyre segment the situation is believed to be very similar, if not worse.
“There are certain difficulties in our segment, and they are primarily associated with the negative perception of the retreaded passenger tyres on the local market. The problem is that for some time on the market there were retreaded tyres with quality that left a lot to be desired. But we are working on
Gerasimov added.
Previously, the Parnu-based company Master, and the Valga- based Vallai, were two big retreaders in the passenger tyre segment. Both these companies were closed almost simultaneously, in 2017. According to Gerasimov, it was not these companies that spoiled the image of retreaded tyres on the local market. Gerasimov continued, for example, that Master had a premium quality that was highly appreciated amongst customers both in Estonia and Finland. And Vallai also had retreaded tyres at a “very decent level”.
“So, I believe that the public perception of retreaded passenger tyres in Estonia was primarily affected by the southern companies, in the first place from Lithuania and Poland. In the past, we were importing some retreaded tyres from Lithuania. I would not like to name the companies, but in their cases the quality was really bad. Failures were reported on 50% of these tyres, and there were tread separations, blow outs and many other problems,” Gerasimov said. Although, there is no competition within the industr y, there is a fierce competition with Chinese tyres. This is true not only for the Estonian market, but also for the Russian market, where Wolf Tyres exports its products. On the contrary, in Finland and Sweden great education work has been already
Wolf Tyres:
The Last One Standing
Being the last passenger tyre retreader in Estonia, Wolf Tyres is taking advantage of the lack of competition in its niche, but things are still far from perfect as the demand is not as high as it could be.
Just a few years ago there were two other passenger tyre retreaders in Estonia. They are both closed now, but not due to economic reasons. Rumour has it that at one company the owner got too old to run the business, and there were no successors he could pass it down to, while on the second plant the owners simply get “tired” of working in the tyre business.
Wolf Tyres traces its origins to 1990s, the time when Estonia split from the Soviet Union, says Sergei Polujanenkov, general director of Wolf Tyres. The owner took a decision to import used
passenger tyres from Germany, because at that time the range of passenger tyres on the local market was extremely limited. Gaining its first capital, the company opened an autoshop and then opened car service centre in the city of Johvi.
“The very idea of retreading passenger tyres crossed our mind a long time ago, because when the owner was importing used tyres to the local market, there was a range of retreaded tyres in Europe. This was of a great interest to us, because we were also importing small batches of retreaded tyres, and they enjoyed good popularity in the local market. We were considering this project for some time and managed to implement it in 2015,” said Dmitri Gerasimov, chief of production.
In 2015, Wolf Tyres opened its
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