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INDIA
V P Sharma of Alfa Cold Retreads
has led to factory closures on a large scale and a drop in industrial activity. The situation has worsened in last couple of years, and unless the government takes corrective financial measures to revive consumption levels, it is felt that the lull in the market may not be able to be reversed. “Consumption levels dropped drastically leading to a slowdown in industrial production, which directly impacts the fleet movement. Fleets are now stranded for sometimes weeks for loads and low fleet movement directly impacts the retreading
sector,” said Sharma.
Currently, the Alfa site is dedicated to Indag rubber and consumes around 40 tons annually. The plant operates on an Indag five-tyre autoclave and retreads an average of 400 tyres each month.
On asking when the business scenario will improve, Sharma added, “We are hoping the market will improve from now on as it has been at its lowest level in the last few years. We are still operating with the hope that market will revive in the near future.”
Alfa has experienced a consistent drop in production in the last two
The bigger retreaders are feeling the heat in the Indian market due to the well documented slowdown, but new players entering the retreading sector continue to dream big. An Indag franchisee in Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh is now planning to relocate to bigger factory.
“We started about three years ago and are now shifting to a new location in the middle of the transport hub in the next couple of months, which will likely increase our volumes,” said Ram Avtar Goel of M R Tyre Retreads. Currently, the site operates on a 4+1 autoclave and company will continue to function on the same chambers set-up on relocation, but plans to add a buffer.
We will try to double production as the new location is near the highway from Delhi to Ghaziabad, and we hope to get a lot of walk- in customers,” he claims. Currently, the plant is retreading around 250 tyres each month. Though small in operation, the site uses the premium tread supplied by Indag. “Our focus is on premium treads, and so we use the RRR pattern from Indag,” he explained.
The plant also uses a small amount of locally made tread liner to cater to the price sensitive customer. “We have customers walk in with worn out casings
and demand cheaper belts, therefore, we have to cater to those customers also,” he said.
decades as it was producing 1,000 retreads in the year 2000 and around 700 retreads in 2016. “Over the years, tyre producers like Apollo and MRF have also appointed franchisees, and a price
war started to retain market share even with shrinking volumes. Competition has also intensified from the unorganised retreaders, further dropping profitability levels,” added Sharma.
MR Tyre Retreads to Double Production at New Location
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