Page 15 - RB-106-2023-3

HO-COM MAKES FORAY INTO NEW MARKETS
It was almost five years since Retreading Business visited Ho-Com Rubber Technology Co, Ltd in Vietnam. We were pleased to have an opportunity to catch up with General Manager T.H. Yew on how the company is progressing towards its vison and fulfilling its goals.
“We now have a full range of inner and ou- ter envelopes, from 15- to 24.5-inch, co- vering light trucks, trucks to agricultural tyres. To cater for market demand, we ad- ded three common moulds and invested in two new rubber press machines. The ins- tallation of these machines would be done at the end of this year,” he said.
Ho-Com’s business and production were not heavily affected by Covid-19. He ex- plained that with the aim of maintaining economic growth and epidemic preven- tion, the Vietnamese government encou- raged manufacturing enterprises, espe- cially those in industrial zones, to arrange for their staff to temporarily work, eat and sleep on-site if they wanted to con- tinue operations. Therefore, the pande- mic, he said, did not affect the company’s production as it opted to support this ti- mely policy, which enabled the company to continue supporting local and overseas customers.
Yew revealed that the company’s busi- ness never slowed down during this pe- riod. “The rapid global spread of Covid-19 affected the world economy severely. The transportation and logistics industry was looking for ways to reduce costs. The fact that the tyre is the second largest cost af- ter fuel and the price difference between a new tyre and retreaded tyre continued to become bigger, as well as the rising en- vironmental emphasis, contributed to the growth of the retreading industry. This created a favourable environment for us,” he said.
In general, he noticed, when times we- re tough, the retreading industry would perform better. “Except the China market where new truck tyres are very cheap.
The retreading market in Vietnam is very small and so is the growth rate. Ninety-ni- ne per cent of our products are exported overseas, with the remaining one per cent for the domestic market.”
As a specialist in producing inner and ou- ter curing envelopes, curing tubes, curing flaps and wicking pads, Ho-Com exports its products to more than 20 countries. South America is its biggest export mar- ket, followed by China, Thailand and Tur- key.
“We also successfully expanded to five regions - Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In fact, with the overwhelming response from South Ame- rica, we do not have extra capacity for further market expansion. Therefore, we do not have plans to further develop new markets for the moment. However, the- re are always new customers from other countries that come to us. With 24 wor- kers running in two shifts, we are current- ly operating at full capacity.”
Plant expansion, according to him, was not sensible. He explained that when the company was established in 2005 at the current 5,000-square metre location in the Nam Tan Uyen Industrial Estate in Vietnam, it costs him about US$24 per square metre compared to today’s US$200. The construction cost per squa- re metre was US$60 against US$180 per square metre while labour wages was US$60 per month to today’s approximate US$245.
Asia is also an important market for the company. He revealed that the company must secure market share in Asia to pre- vent its customers from looking for other
“We also successfully expanded to five regions - Kenya, South Africa, Argentina, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. In fact, with the overwhelming response from South America, we do not have extra capacity for further market expansion. With 24 workers running in two shifts, we are currently operating at full capacity.”
INTERVIEW
TH YEW
P.15