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COVID-19 UPDATE
itself clarified its retread supply position; “In order to prevent any problems due to the eventual suspension of the Italian production’s activities, Marangoni already started organising its plant in Henstedt-Ulzburg (Germany) to serve all its European customers.”
In a statement to Retreading Business, Marangoni stated; “Our sector is an integral part of the supply chain, and that is why we
economy. This must take place for the good of all and for the future of our planet.
“We should, therefore, make use of the ability to respond to the epidemic fielded at every level: from the efforts made to implement the “lockdown” to the positive boost driving innovation in all sectors. This strength, perhaps unimaginable before this crisis, shows us that we can create a better world.
fighting against the new Coronavirus”, emphasised the Director of International Business at Vipal Rubber, Leandro Rigon. He adds that, in addition to this, the company understands the importance of taking good care of its workers by following all guidelines stipulated by health agencies to preserve lives and contain the pandemic.
Vipal states that it will continue to take all necessary precautions to guarantee the safety of its employees following stipulations from health and legal agencies. Necessary cleaning, sanitising and circulation measures, as well as a telecommuting and production realignment, have been adopted. At this challenging time, all Vipal employees have been instructed to follow the health agencies recommendations.
“All of these procedures show how much Vipal is concerned with the well-being and health of people, as well as with the economy and supply of transport, which is fundamental for overcoming this phase the whole world is going through,” says Rigon.
“We are convinced that a company like Vipal, which values human beings and is committed to the market will always, with support from its team, be able to overcome the challenges that may come”, he concludes.
Kraibuirg Austria is strictly following an extensive catalogue of mea¬sures. “We have adapted our current production capacities to the present situation of course,” Stefan Mayrhofer, Managing Director of KRAIBURG Austria explains; “But we are still giving retreaders our best possible support to meet their respective demand or replenish their stocks.”
Kraiburg added, the demand varies considerably in the different regions of Europe depending on the extent of the crisis. Sales Director Holger Düx commented; “Whilst we see clear recessions in heavily stricken Southern Europe, Northern and Central Europe seem to be getting through the crisis better at the moment.”
There does seem to be some good news: A total collapse has not been registered anywhere so far. “Luckily, we were able to
disperse uncer¬tainties regarding the delivery situation which were worrying our custo¬mers considerably in the beginning,” Holger Düx continues. It has been deci-sive here that goods transportation throughout Europe has remained largely without restrictions.
Kraiburg expects that the demand for high quality tyres will increase again in the coming months, and that there will be delivery bottlenecks due to the production stop in parts of the new tyre industry in Europe, and by the Asian tyre manufacturers. “Here, we see the opportunity for premium retreads to score points with availability and deliverability in the current scenario. We all remember the year 2011 in which this was exactly the case,” says Stefan Mayrhofer. “We see this ability to deliver at the right time for our customers as one of our central tasks in the current situation.”
One point that may have a future impact upon tyre retreading is a production matter. China is already ramping up production, returning to normal, thereby giving the lie to the concept that it will be a different world after Covid-19. If China replicates its behaviour from pre-Covid-19 days, it will manufacture without having markets for the goods it produces. Faced with huge stockpiles, the Chinese government will subsidise exports, and we can expect the global market to be once again flooded by cheap Chinese tyres (and other goods).
These tyres may or may not be to US/European standards – we know that most tyres coming into Europe, at least, are not tested for standards or their tyre labelling veracity. We may find that, despite tariffs, there is a glut of cheap tyres flooding the market, taking the whole tyre sector back five years and impacting heavily on the retreading industry as fleet operators trying to recoup lost profits look for the cheapest at the point of delivery tyre provision. Unless lessons learned from past experiences with cheap tyres are remembered, the retread sector will face yet another uphill struggle to make ends meet – no pun intended.
Counter to that idea is the view of Donald Trump that there will
continue to do our duty.
“We have organised, through smart working, to allow our teams to be efficient even at a distance and we have made worker safety the central focus... “Marangoni, in fact, continues the provision of services to all its transport operators to ensure the continuation of the food and pharmacy supply chain. “Evidently, this crisis can also adversely affect the aftermarket tyre sector. However, based on the experience of the crisis that we have had to manage in the past, we know that, again, this time there might be opportunities for the retreading sector.
“If we’re able to interpret the actual scenario and the possible consequences on our future, we shall emerge from this difficult time with a new awareness.
“The reflection on the weaknesses of our societies, where a lot of people are focusing on healthcare systems’ criticalities and on the prevention of epidemics, can and should be extended to other looming threats, starting with climate change.
“We, at Marangoni, believe that environmental protection needs to be chosen as a central theme for restarting the world’s
“By looking with hope to our future, we not only wish a return to normality but a growth in the awareness of the consequences of our actions - small and large - on the environment we live in. Starting with those on the re-use of the raw materials and on the CO2 emissions reductions.
In a statement from Vipal Rubber, the company made it clear that it held is social responsibility highly, both to its employees and the community as a whole. As is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of tyre retreading products, which are fundamental to the operation of transport segment it is critical that the company continues to meet the transport needs in the 90 markets it serves globally.
In order to ensure maintain supplies to the transport sector, production has been intensified to increase inventory to meet demand when needed and in the event of a factory idle.
“We know how essential it will be to transport companies with what they need to operate, so that, not only the economy keeps going, but also the ongoing delivery of essential goods to the health services and people, in general, can be continued, especially during this time of
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