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COUNTRY
REPORT - SOUTH AFRICA
on 28 April 2022 – and this order was originally placed with Vipal in November 2021. During the months of March and April 2022, we had four containers on the water, yet it still took more than four months for them to arrive, and this was purely due to availability,” Goosen disclo- sed, adding that the best way to keep business going in the context of a
- ning high stock levels,” Goosen said. He also said that the effect of the supply chain challenges for TRS was minimised and the management quickly got this issue under control, while some of TRS competitors are still struggling to recover.
THRIVING IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
There have been examples when the tyre retreading and repair indus- some countries and regions of the world. During times of uncertainty, people are willing to switch to cost-cutting solutions, pushing up the demand for retreaded tyres.
we do well. Although the last couple of years had its fair share of cha- llenges with the likes of international shipping challenges and prices, we have been very fortunate to be able to work closely with our customers through most of these challenges. Our aim is to pre-empt possible cha- llenges, and this has paid off, especially with having stock,” Goosen said.
Last year, the South African economy was not doing exceptionally well. The country’s GDP shrank by 1.3%, and industrial activity fell across the board. This drop means that the South African economic growth
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The outages have recently become so severe that President Cyril Ra- maphosa has had to declare a state of disaster in the country.
“In South Africa, we have a serious problem with electricity, and this results in the country facing rolling blackouts or “loadshedding” as we know it. It happens in stages, and the higher the stage, the more seve- re the blackouts are,” Goosen said, explaining that, for example, stage 2 means one 2-hour blackout in a 24-hour cycle. Stage 4, in turn, stand for two 2-hour blackout cycle in a 24-hour cycle. Still, since the beginning of 2023, the industry has been hit with prolonged outages.
“This year so far, we have been mostly between stages 5 and 6. Stage 6 is three 2-hour blackout cycles in a 24-hours. The result of this, in the plan production. If the retreaders do have a backup generator, it helps, but this comes at a high cost since diesel generators are very expensive - son explained.
Still, times like these provide unique opportunities for retreaders to work with their partners and customers through the challenges to eventually become better and stronger, Goosen said.
THE RIGHT FRIEND
Being the regional distributor of Vipal products in the southern part of the African continent, TRS has seen its business going uphill in the past years. The company praised the partnership and believes it’s very lucky to have Vipal behind its back, the spokesperson said.
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