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RUSSIA
Irkutsk Retreader Benefits from Siberian Demand Surge
During the past several years, retreading has become way more popular in Russia in general, and in Siberia in particular, but the industr y still has to face some problems and a great deal of uncertainty, says Andrey Buranov, general director of the Irkutsk Production Company (IPC). IPC was found in 2012 in the city of Irkutsk in the very heart of Russian Siberia. The city is an important transport hub, standing right in the middle of the Trans-Siberian Highway - the network of federal highways that spans Russia from the Baltic Sea to the Far East and
themselves," Buranov said. "We became operational in Januar y 2013, taking advantage from my order book in the special equipment segment, where customers also expressed interests in retreading".
Not an easy business
Between buying the equipment and launching production, Buranov claims he put a lot of effort into studying the regional market to assess the real interest of Irkutsk transport companies in retreading services.
"I also began searching for
retreading line. Its owner purchased equipment from a company in St. Petersburg and installed it in its hangar primarily to serve his own fleet. However, in the end, this didn't play out very well. The retreaded line operated for slightly over a year.
"It's not enough to buy the equipment. You have to deal
would expect and still may not be satisfied with the result," Buranov said.
The first two years were challenging since the plant was not paying off investments. Times were different, as retreading was not very popular and not very widespread. "Now, retreading is on everyone's lips. On the other
the Sea of Japan. This transport artery stretches over 11,000 kilometres, disputing the title of the longest national highway in the world with Australia's Highway 1.
According to Buranov, the city has almost always housed at least three retreaders, though different plants have been opening and shutting down in Irkutsk during the past decade. Prior to launching IPC, Buranov ran a company leasing special equipment.
"My dream always was to produce something," Buranov said, adding that tyre retreading was on his radar alongside some other businesses.
The decision was made in favour of retreading after a visit was paid to Renova – another Russian tyre retreader based in Podolsk, near Moscow. Buranov recalled he was impressed with their operations.
"They helped me ordering the equipment and machines just like those they were running
similar plants in Irkutsk and initially failed to find any. However, after we launched production, we found out there was another retreader in our city. I visited their plant. They had a different approach – budget equipment, low-price raw materials, and even their owner admitted he didn't like what they produced," Buranov said, adding that he wanted IPC to go a different way.
Basically, there are numerous ways to cut costs in the retreading business. For example, IPC uses rubber solvents purchased at the Angar Petrochemical Plant for the adhesive base, while the other retreader opted for gasoline. "Six months later, one more retreading plant emerged, and we began working as a trio. During the next years, various plants have been launched, closed, sold, and re-sold," Buranov said.
One local transport company also decided to launch its own
with a world of issues, starting from searching for clients, sourcing casings, and up to recruiting employees. This must be the toughest part," Buranov said, adding that in Russia, retreaders have no other option but to train staff from scratch. It may look like retreaders could recruit personnel from tyre fitting centres, but in Russia, this is not the case, Buranov said, explaining that there is a gaping void in production attitude between these two tyre industry branches.
"You'd spend more time on re- training former employees from tyre fitting centres than you
hand, everyone has a different view on it, depending on his own experience".
Looking for your place in the world
As explained by Buranov, producing premium-quality retreads is not the easiest way in Russia, but it could spare
you some common challenges. "We work only with Nokian raw materials. We also purchase cushion gum from Kraiburg, but that's it," Buranov said, adding that the company spent some time to find the right formula. "We tried Galgo, Marangoni, and even some Chinese
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