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KENYA
Singh Retread Moving-on in Difficult Times
Countr y Manager, Elgi Rubber Company Limited. The African site also produces 180 tons of tread rubber annually.
Kenya is regarded as a price sensitive market, preferring budget products and materials without considering about mileage, and new rubber brands are entering the market regularly. “On the other hand, Elgi offers quality as well as value for money and a product that gives the best in terms of mileage,” he stressed. With the introduction of the Standard Gauge Railway, container handling is shifting from the port city of Mombasa to Nairobi. This has changed the market dynamics as retreaders are now facing difficulties due to the shortage of retreadable casings. “We analysed the market, which has turned more competitive price-wise and started bringing in high-value products that considerably bring down the production cost per tyre for retreaders,” he explained.
The Coimbatore headquartered firm is focusing on introducing new products like consumables, repair units etc in the Kenyan market.
“Our curing systems shortens the curing time by half from 3 hours to 1 hour 30 minutes, increasing production, saving electricity and reducing manpower,” he assured. Elgi curing systems have been widely adopted in the market as retreaders shift to the new system and understand the potential savings.
The company offers bonding gum with 1.2 mm thickness, which also helps in reducing the curing time by half compared to other brands of bonding gum. This is also available in 1.5 mm thickness extending the curing time to double. “Our product range is better on economies of scale as the price difference is hardly 10% but the curing time is cut by half.”
The retread specialist focuses on fast moving tread patterns like EZYL in various sizes in Kenya. “We are also identifying new patterns for original tyres that are required to be imported from the Indian site.
Meanwhile, Elgi continues to expand its footprint in the African market with the Indian major installing two captive retread facilities in Nigeria in 2018. “We
One of the oldest retreaders in Kenya, Singh Retread Ltd, is coping with lower volumes caused by market slowdown and the liquidity crunch created by the demonetisation of high value notes. The company continues to operate despite the challenges in
company buys precured tread from Vipal to retread truck tyres and conventional Orbitread from Midas for OTR tyres for the hot process. The site operates on two autoclaves of 12 and 11 tyres respectively, and also has moulds for the OTR tyres.
Gurtej Singh, Director, Singh Retread Ltd.
the market, but production levels have dropped considerably.
“We are merely retreading 600 tyres each month and somehow meeting the overheads to run the operation,” admitted Gurtej Singh, Director, Singh Retread Ltd. The Nairobi based firm started operation way back in 1998.
The retreader used to maintain volumes of around 2,500 tyres each month about a decade ago but has experienced a consistent drop in production levels due to the changing market dynamics. “The production levels have continued on a negative trend preventing us from making any expansion all these years,” he added.
Singh Retread sources tread rubber from Vipal and Midas for truck and farm tyres respectively. The
The Kenyan market is flooded with low priced tyres imports, causing harm to the struggling retreading industry, says the company. “We retread a truck tyre on average for $120, whereas new imported tyres are available at about $180. The reduced price-gap in retread casing and new tyre is putting further pressure on margins. We are forced to operate on minimal margins as we cannot compromise with the quality, using best of the tread rubber in the market,” he argued. Singh Retread operates from rented premises and had plans to build its plant years ago, but the consistent drop in production has forced it to put the plan on the back-burner. “We have no option but to watch the market scenario and hope for the best in the coming months,” he concluded.
Elgi offers an array of consumables used by retreaders, bringing down the curing time, manpower and electricity etc. Retreaders are normally using five products in the rim and bag system to cure the tyre including curing rims, sealing flanges, flaps, outside envelopes and curing bags.
Elgi introduced two systems - Flex Sealing and the inner/outer sealing system requiring merely two products to cure the tyre. The flex sealing system includes flex seal bands and outside envelopes, while the inner/outer sealing system requires inner and outer envelopes only.
have supplied and installed two plants in Lagos and Abuja,” he said.
The first of these retread facilities produces about 650 tyres each month and is installed at the Lagos based premium haulage service provider BHN Logistics, part of the Tolaram Group. The second plant is installed at Abuja for Nigeria’s most diversified business conglomerates Dangote Group, to retread 1,200 tyres per month.
Elgi’s Nairobi site caters to the markets of Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda & Nigeria.
Gowtham Raaja, Country Manager, Elgi Rubber Company Ltd.
Elgi Rubber Continues to Hold Turf in Kenya
Despite stiff competition from an array of tread rubber brands from India, retread pioneer Elgi Rubber Company Limited continues to hold its turf in the Kenyan market. Elgi’s Nairobi site feeds the local Kenyan market as well as adjoining countries, though the domestic market remains the largest in East Africa.
Elgi Rubber’s almost two-decade
old Nairobi based site produces tread rubber and bonding gum. It also imports a container bi- monthly that brings some of the new patterns, consumables etc. to supply the various retreaders in the market.
“We are the largest producer of bonding gum in the Kenyan market, supplying 120 tons yearly,” said Gowtham Raaja,
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