Page 15 - Retrading Business N101 2022-02
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market, particularly the new Chinese tyre segment, which is getting less competitive. This is associated with rising logistics costs, as well as a scarcity of new tyres along the supply chains.
“On the other hand, consumers are getting more informed, and the concepts of circu- lar economy in Europe are giving a unique opportunity to retreaded tyres to grow beyond Chinese tyres. A retreaded tyre is nowadays more ecological, reliable, and pro- tyres, which are mainly low cost, low quality, and most of the time, non-retreadable pro- ducts,” Marques said.
NEW ERA’S CHALLENGES
The lack of high-quality casings is considered one of the biggest issues on the market these days, Marques said, adding that the shorta- ge is seen not only in his part of Europe but worldwide, and it is negatively affecting pro- duction mainly in the light-truck and 4x4 tyre segment.
“We retread mostly premium casings, and we only use Chinese casings for On/Off-road truck retreaded tyres,” Marques said. “We primarily source casings in Spain and Fran- ce. Special tyres usually come from Japan and Australia, sometimes the USA, but the
ultra-high transport costs are making these
FEDIMA runs some of the most advanced equipment in the retreading business, such as an MGT Buffer and Skiving machine, Black Dragon extruders, TRM buffers, and extru- ders, Italmatic presses, shearography equip- ment and a Marangoni Ring Builder.
- graphy equipment that will allow a faster ins- pection,” Marques said.
Another challenge of the post-coronavirus era is a labour shortage. Marques says Por- tugal is not an exception in this situation. The country has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe, which means it is complica- -
- tion, and rewarded a one-month bonus salary to all our workers at the end of the year as compensation for good results achievement,” Marques said.
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