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INTERVIEW
ITG: The Future of Retreading Depends on Quality
By Guido Gambassi
CM Manzoni Group HQ in Fusignano
Fabio Cortesi, The General Manager of ITG, offers us a view of his company and the tyre retreading industry from the perspective of the retread materials supplier.
ITG based in Fusignano, in the province of Ravenna, has for some decades been one of the largest Italian companies active in the supply of materials for retreading tyres, and during the recent turbulent times for the industry, the company has been able to make the most of synergies with the CM Manzoni Group, which specialises in the production of rubber compounds and technical products, in order to invest and remain competitive. We talked about this with Fabio Cortesi, the General Manager of ITG, who represents the third generation of the Group's family, who told us the story and the perspectives of the Group, but also offered his views on the
retreading sector.
How was your Group established?
The CM Manzoni company was founded in Fusignano in 1965. This was an area of shoe factories, and the company was created to supply rubber compounds used in the soles and shoes themselves, a production sector that was very strong in the 60s. The footwear industry moved in later decades, but the company began to diversify production with rubber compounds intended for different uses as early as the 1970s. Today CM Manzoni is highly specialised in the production of compounds for technical rubber articles, compounds for high pressure pipes, electrical cables, components for household appliances, for the automotive industry and for the construction sector. First, in the 80s we acquired Sage of Empoli,
and then in the early nineties we bought ITG, Industria Toscana Gomma, with its commercial brand Paltread. At that point the Group was able to enter the retreading sector with its own brand and production.
What is the current size and structure of the Group?
Today the CM Manzoni Group in Fusignano has about 60,000 square metres of covered production and has a hundred employees. In 2018 we also opened a factory in the USA, where we produce compounds. Also part of the group is Evercompound, whose strength is in mixing, whose modern and updated technologies (a new mixing line has been installed in recent months and the oldest is no more than two years old), illustrate a Group in continuous innovation. The Group is growing substantially both in terms of volume and turnover, which exceeds 120 million Euro, and in the area of compounding we are certainly among the biggest in Italy. Within the Group, ITG has only 15 employees, but then we have some operators and functions shared with other companies in the Group, such as laboratories and administration. These are important synergies that allow us to have a lean structure and low costs.
On the one hand, therefore, we have the advantage of having direct access to raw materials
(which account for 70% of the product cost) and the research and development of our group. On the other hand, being a small company in the field of retreading allows us to be very flexible towards customers, offering a level of service perhaps more difficult for larger companies.
How is ITG positioned within the retreading market?
We reach at least 70% of the retreaders in Italy. The Italian market constitutes 50% of our turnover, so we are well presented abroad, in the countries of Central Europe and Scandinavian countries, in some countries with distributors, whilst in others we are present directly. The logic is the same as in the Italian market: being ver y close to the needs of the customer, being flexible in the supplies, offers, deliveries and qualitative advantages typical of Italian companies of the sector. Results in 2018 are slightly better than 2017, having grown by some percentage points, but in difficult years we have a kind of counter-tendency view, even small volumes from an important customer can be just enough to make the difference. We are satisfied with what we are doing but we would like to be able to improve ITG's position on the market, and for this we have acquired new commercial personnel specialised in the sector.
As for the product ITG offers all the materials for retreading tyres, produces materials for hot retreading (profiles, strips, sheets and underlays), and has its own precured line with the Paltread brand.
How do you see the relationship today between hot and cold retreading?
Of the two sectors, the one we see suffering the most is the precured sector, perhaps it is more a logic linked to our company, but we are seeing extreme price competition, which has lowered margins but
Fabio Cortesi, the General Manager of ITG
14 Retreading Business