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LATIN AMERICA EXPO
UTA’s Louis Pereira
“In general, there is nothing new on the market these days, with the low price for new tyres affecting the retreading industry as well. Right now, the industry is trying to fight against that, because those tyres, they have low price, but also low quality. So, for retreading companies there are two issues: first is that they should complete with these tyres, and the second is that the Chinese
covering most of the country, while in the other there could be several smaller customers. So, there are many different nuances of working here. And there is also the issue of tariffs. In some countries, like Brazil, they have high import duties on new tyres, so they are less affected than other countries,” he added.
Galgo considers it is very important to participate in the shows like Latin
“Specific countries
we would like to
target are Colombia,
Brazil, Argentina,
Uruguay, Peru and
Costa Rica. We
believe that the state
of affairs in the used
tyre market of these
countries is quite
good. There is a
sustainable demand
for used tyres and
casings for the
retreading market.
This makes us think
that we have bright
prospects in this
part of the world.
We have quite
strong positions in
Central America and
some of the
Caribbean countries, and now we plan to move in a southerly direction,” Pereira added.
It is true that when it comes to casings and used tyres, Latin America is a region with strong competition between different suppliers. Pereira said that it had always been like that, and Used Tyres Australia had been supplying its products alongside some companies from Germany, Italy and Spain for rather a long time.
“We have our own production with good quality. We don’t do any winter tyres which aren’t popular here, and this makes us more attractive and competitive on the local markets,” Pereira said.
As Latin America is not a single market, but rather a set of different markets, there are different development models the company applies to the region.
“We are working with brokers, and we are dealing directly with wholesale suppliers. We have our own sales office based in Honduras,
tyres cannot be retreaded, and this means that there are fewer casings on the market,” Ibarzabal said. Nevertheless, Galgo is still considering Latin America as a region of a high importance. There are many customers in different countries that are very valuable to the company.
“It is quite difficult to talk about the local market in general, because the picture varies a lot from one country to another. In one country there could be one retreading plant
Tyre Expo, because it is “a point to approach the customers,” Ibarzabal said.
During the three-day expo, Galgo featured some of their newest tread designs including the Winter Mileage Performance (WMP) tread, designed for regional applications, the Key On Performance (KOP) tread, designed for mixed applications, and the Severe Drive Performance (SDP) tread, designed for severe applications.
covering this region, and this office deals directly with the clients. Having your own base in the region helps a lot, for such things as translation and the like”.
The company eyes development in the region even in spite of the pressure the retreading industry is experiencing from competition with new Chinese tyres.
“That’s [competition with Chinese tyres] a well-known fact, and we see that some retreading plants have stopped their operation, but some countries are introducing anti- dumping taxes and some other tariffs are also going up. Meanwhile, a slow recovery in the retreading market of this continent is being noticed, especially in the United States and Mexico,” Pereira said.
Pereira admitted that it is quite expensive to ship products from Australia to certain destinations, for example to the centre of the United States. The company considers this factor as an obstacle and has to compensate it with the price.
Used Tyres Australia Evaluates New Opportunities in Latin America
Hules Banda
There is an inflow of new tyres in Latin America, since those products are barred from landing in other markets, like Europe or the United States, Lenny Martinez, marketing director of Hules Banda said.
“The main reason for us to participate in Latin Tyre Expo 2019 is to gain new customers. We do always have customers coming from different parts of South America, North America and Central America. This is the only existing show of that kind in America right now. They used to
have a tyre show in the U.S. and they don’t run it any longer, so it is the only one left in Latin America,” Martinez said.
“The other reason is to keep building the relationships with our existing customers,” he added. There are some new trends on the market of the region that companies in the retreading industry have to bear in mind.
“In Central America, Mexico and Canada the market is changing a lot. I’m based in the U.S., and I can safely say that things are a little bit different in the U.S. because of
The main rationale behind attending the Latin Tyre Expo 2019 for Used Tyres Australia was to find some new customers, Louis Pereira, spokesperson for the company said. “We have been attending this show for the last six years and the main reason for us to be here is that we have a lot of clients in the Central
American region, so being here gives us an opportunity to network with them. Also, we are seeking opportunities to step into new markets, so going forward we would like to get new customers in Central, South America and the Caribbean. This is our main goal for this year,” Pereira said.
46 Retreading Business
The Retreading Market in
the Region is Changing: