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Alexey Gryshchenko; “Quite a few companies wanted to close their plants and sell their equipment. Things changed only about six months ago, when the price of logistics went up in China, and our industry again started moving uphill.”
Gribanov estimated.
In terms of consumer trust, the Russian re- treading market has not changed a lot over the past few decades, Gribanov said. The volume expanded, but customers who use retreads usually trust not the whole indus- try but only their proven partner.
“For this reason, most customers are ready to work with retreaders located in the vi- cinity close to them, within a radius of 300 km,” Gribanov said. “So the trust in our in- dustry has a local nature, built mostly on personal relations.”
Olga Tkachenko, customer relations man- ager of the Russian raw material supplier Rossvik, said that the company has oper- ated for exactly 25 years, and quite a few things changed on the Russian market of retreading materials during this time.
“Judging from the demand for products necessary for retreading, we clearly see an increase,” Tkachenko said, adding that this is likely to be attributed to economic fac- tors in the first place. “There is a growing demand for retreads, as, given the current economic conditions, they are cheaper compared to new tyres.”
Besides, the Russian retreading industry has made a leap forward in terms of the technical side of the business.
“What previously was considered not fit- ting for retreading, now is no longer seen so,” Tkachenko said, explaining that Rus- sian retreaders now take advantage of the years-long experience and have access to the required raw materials.
BIG CHANGES IN UKRAINE
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian tyre retreading market went through a lot of changes over the past few decades, including a skyrock- eting growth in demand in the early 2000s.
“25 years ago, we had only three retreading plants. At the peak, their number reached 15. For instance, during a crisis in 2008, the growth in demand on the market was cra- zy,” said Alexey Gryshchenko, director of the Ukraine major tyre retreader Yashina.
The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a slump in demand and hindered production performance in Ukraine’s retreading indus- try, Gryshchenko admitted.
“Quite a few companies wanted to close
Alexey Gryshchenko
their plants and sell their equipment. Things changed only about six months ago, when the price of logistics went up in Chi- na, and our industry again started moving uphill,” he added.
Last year, the Ukrainian retreading indus- try was in depression, similar to some other countries. However, there are some prom- ising long-term developments that encour- age local businesses.
“During the past two years, the quality of automotive roads improved significantly in Ukraine. Nearly 50% of highways are in perfect condition. We waited for this dur- ing the previous 20 years,” Gryshchenko said, explaining that this promises to im- prove the quality of local casings.
“We expect to see the results in a year or so. I know that similar things have been seen in Turkey. They also built good roads, after which the quality of local casings tre- mendously improved, and the retreading business started growing,” he added.
POOR ROADS HAMPERING RETREAD GROWTH
The quality of highways and regional au-
25 YEARS OF
RETREADING BUSINESS
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