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RUSSIA
products. They were not right for us".
There are two common approaches to the retreading business. The first is to use cheaper raw materials to attract more customers. The second is to try and produce retreads with the quality you could be proud of.
"We opted for the latter. Of course, this is expensive, but our clients can see what they paid for. They can feel the difference," Buranov said,
avoid reclamations. According to Buranov, this is particularly important in Russia because every retreader has to make a safe distance between his public image and that of the notorious Soviet-style retreading.
"It was not about quality, it was not even safe. The ver y existence of the Soviet retreading industr y was associated with a lack of tyres in the countr y in those times,"
adding that the plant continued operation even during the lockdown in May 2020.
Just like many other retreaders, Buranov said, IPC has to deal with the lack of casings. The company retreads only premium European brands, such as Michelin and Bridgestone. Among Russian brands, IPC also accepts K ama and Cordiant.
"Other producers are out of the question, just like Chinese tyres. We have to keep the bar high," Buranov said, adding that IPC does not have to explain to its clients why retreads are better than Chinese tyres. "I mean, clients purchasing a Bridgestone tyre for 28,000 ($380) would not question why Nokian tread is better than a Chinese tyre".
"As always, 315/70 is the most popular size. To deal with the lack of casings I have to travel to Moscow. I buy a container with casings and fly back, and the container is flying after me. 315/80 is the size where we experience the strongest shortage of casings. It goes for off-the-road trucks, and these tyres frequently require repairs, so at the end, they are often not fit for retreading," he added.
Geographical factors
In general, things are getting better for Russian retreaders. A growing number of customers have begun caring more about
voyages to Vladivostok, where so-called ice rains may happen during this time of the year. One client with trucks running on all-season tyres has been caught in the middle of the road and had to wait for a month until the weather conditions improved. He would avoid that by using winter tyres," Buranov said, adding that the growing demand for seasonal tyres spurs the demand for retreads.
"We have tough weather conditions, especially near Baikal and in the mountains, and often trucks without winter tyres have to wait for days to cross passes until the weather conditions improve. This incurs additional costs and raises safety risks. Some companies use chains, but as we all know, this is very bad for the tyres," he said.
IPC has managed to expand its sales geography through almost the whole of Siberia. The company currently has clients in the Republic of Buryatia, 500 km away from Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk Krai, 1000 km away, and some other regions. This factor, among others, promises a bright future for the company.
"The [Russian] retreading market is growing; there is no doubt in that. Nokian's statistics also show a growing demand in the country among all retreading. Unless there are some new game-changing
adding due to the right philosophy, IPC has not experienced competition with new Chinese tyres.
Buranov explained that it might not be the best idea to try and compete with Chinese tyres pricewise. In the Irkutsk region, the price of retreads starts at 17,000 rubles ($230), while the cost of new Chinese tyres starts at 15,000 rubles ($205).
There were different reasons why quite a few retreading plants in this part of Russia failed to become successful during the past few years. Some went bankrupt due to the Chinese tyres, some got financial liabilities they appeared to not able to cover, but, Buranov said, in most cases, the insufficient product quality was the main reason. "We are uncompromising on many things. Customers used to bring a dozen casings to us, of which we would find, let's say 8, suitable for retreading. They asked to retread others as well, promising they would not have claims if something happens. We always refuse," Buranov said.
Sticking to this principle, the company managed almost to
Buranov said.
Room for further growth
In the beginning, IPC retreaded 10 to 12 tyres per month. Now, this figure has reached 160 tyres, and the company has not hit the ceiling.
"The demand is growing; the order book is growing. Our next target is to move away from renting a production place to buying our own," Buranov said.
Word of mouth has been really helping IPC during the past few years. According to Buranov, almost all tyre fitting centres in Irkutsk would recommend their plant to clients looking for high-quality retreads.
The Covid-19 pandemic, however, became a distressing factor for retreaders. During certain periods in 2020, Russia had to shut the border with China and Mongolia. In this background, some clients lost their orders.
"It happened that we were touched by this crisis to a lesser extent. We were fully loaded with work. Yes, some clients delayed payments, others cut their orders, but there were no major problems," Buranov said,
their tyres, using pressure sensors, and so on. Transport companies also prefer to run on seasonal tyres, to mitigate weather risks.
"I've got clients who make
factors, like mandatory tyre labeling, I'd say the future looks promising," Buranov said.
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