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BELARUS
Belarus Needs More Retreading Plants
requirement from Michelin and Goodyear, which do not want their treads to be used on the poor- quality casings, Tsulia said.
A matter of economy
Truck tyre retreading is becoming more popular in Belarus as a cost- saving solution. The past few years were not quite easy for the national economy, with the result that the local transport companies are now more open to the new ideas that promise to drive down their costs. The price of truck tyre retreading in Belarus now ranges between Eur170 and Eur250 per tyre, Tsulia said. This means that on average, a retreaded tyre is 30% cheaper when compared to a new one of premium quality. The critical point is that in Belarus nobody retreads steering wheels, or they could be retreaded but put on the rear axle with the tread pattern of traction wheel, Tsulia said.
One retreaded tyre could secure a substantial economy for transport companies of up to Eur100 per tyre, and moreover, if the tyre is used
mileage, while premium-quality tyres provide value by 50% better than that of the cheap retreaded tyres, he explained.
It is up to the client to choose which retreaded tyres they would like to opt for, as basically, all retreaded tyres secure some cost- savings as compared to new tyres, Tsulia said. Besides, the retreaded tyres, especially those of the premium price segment have mileage very close to the new tyres, and so their use in transport business is an environmental- friendly solution, although the struggle for nature preservation is not a high-profile topic today in post-Soviet space, including in Belarus.
No culture, huge demand
There is a problem of what used with what used to be called “the culture of retreading”. It is rather typical for Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, where most drivers and transport companies care ver y little about the proper use of their tyres so that the casings could be
The share of retreaded tyres on the Belarus retreading market may grow from the current 5% to 15% to 20% with the opening of more plants operating advanced technologies and providing quality warranties, estimated Dmitry Tsulia, commercial director of Kolyeso Plus, one of the biggest importers and distributors of tyres on the local market.
Belarus got acquainted with the tyre retreading technologies around 20 years ago. As of today, there are three retreading plants officially operating in the country, with two of them being based in the country’s capital – Minsk and the third in the city of Brest. Kolyeso
Plus sold 10,000 retreaded tyres in Belarus. On average, these tyres served for 2.5 to 3 years, and during this period there was not even a single complaint about their quality, Tsulia said. The retreaded tyres are in high demand currently in the Belarus tyre market, with the result that even a queue of local customers has recently developed.
As in most other parts of the post- Soviet area, the biggest problem for Belarus retreading plants is the lack of casings. This factor is traditionally linked with the poor quality of highways and other automotive roads in the country, Tsulia said. A lot of casings are being rejected, in 15% to 30% of
Plus is also selling retreaded tyres to Belarus customers, but those are not retreaded locally, but supplied by the Michelin plant in the city of Davydovo, in Moscow Oblast, Russia, Tsulia said.
The Brest plant is running a Goodyear retreading line, and there are some chances that a new retreading plant housing Bridgestone retreading technology would be opened in the country in the foreseeable future, Tsulia said. Over the past six years, Kolyeso
the tyres’ defects are found during the initial inspections, and another 30% when the tyre has already entered the retreading process, he added.
In Belarus, retreaders are not usually working with Chinese and Russian casings, although if a customer insists these tyres could be retreaded as well, but in this case, with no warranty on the final product, Tsulia said. Also, retreaders tend to reject casings older than five years. This is among other a
correctly, it could be retreaded twice, and in that case, the economy mounts. Nevertheless, what transport companies should really look into is a cost per km, because this is the most important factor affecting profitability.
The average price per retreaded tyre in the low-price segment of BRR400 ($192) and its mileage is around 180,000 km. The retreaded tyres of middle-price and premium segment would cost customers BRR490 ($235) and BRR600 ($288), while the mileage is 280,000 and 300,000 km respectively, Tsulia said.
On the one hand, a client sees that at the time of acquisition the low- price retreaded tyre could be cheaper, but when the price per km is compared it turns out that there is no economic sense in buying that kind of retreaded tyres, Tsulia said. Middle-price retreaded tyres provide by 30% better cost per kg of
retreaded in future. In Belarus a sort of paradox exists as good-quality retreading tyres are in ver y high demand these days, Tsulia said. Those clients who are interested in retreading perfectly realise that something good could not be cheap, Tsulia said. And there is a waiting list of clients who tried some top quality retreaded tyres and wish to have more. As a result, when a high- quality retreaded gets on the Belarus market it could be sold virtually with one phone call, Tsulia added.
It is also essential that companies running both small-scale and big fleets are equally interested in retreaded tyres. These all mean that the countr y still lacks retreading plants and some new capacities in the industr y could significantly boost the share of retreaded tyres on the Belarus tyre market already in the foreseeable future, Tsulia said.
14 Retreading Business