Page 80 - RB-106-2023-3

COUNTRY
REPORT - LATVIA
Dmitrijs Lukjanovs in the Juva retreading plant
post-Soviet countries. Trucks transporting goods eastwards stopped by to be serviced by some local retreaders. The importance of these customers for the local retreading industry should not be overestimated, but still, as the sanctions nearly prohibited trucks from crossing the border last year, the tyre market was affected.
“The war had an impact, of course. Firstly, there was a drop in the flow of new tyres, and the gap was partially filled with the retreads,” Lukjanovs said, adding that the fallout of the conflict appeared to be diverse and also manifested itself in skyrocketing energy prices. “The cold winter was a huge threat to our business. We had to plan accordingly and spend accordingly.”
Still, the favourable situation in the tyre market helped the company to endure the turbulent times. Lukjanovs praised the upward trend in the national economy and the tyre market, adding that the company even faced certain limitations on the production side. Currently, Juva Plus retreads roughly 1,000 tyres per month. The target for 2023 is to handle 12,000 tyres. In 2022, the company achieved its goals, and there are hopes that this year the team will repeat its access through strenuous work and precision planning.
REASONS FOR OPTIMISM
“A positive trend is that there is a large group of regular customers who use time-tested brands of treads. Also, the name of one of our main suppliers, Vipal, is growing in the
Dmitrijs Lukjanovs: “We are a solution and a way to do a sustainable business. We are providing a solution with totally
different costs in the long term.”
market, and it is proving its name as a reliable product,” Lukjanovs said.
Another factor that makes the Juva Plus managers more upbeat is that the issue of cheap Asian tyres has eventually settled down. Lukjanovs recalled that originally these tyres came in very aggressively, and consumers fell right in.
“Some of them have tried it and will not go back; some of them were very happy. I would say they found their place. In our case, we are educating our customers and the market – we are not a competitor to the Chinese tyre. We are a solution and a way to do a sustainable business. We are providing a solution with totally different costs in the long term. We are using well-known retreading brands such as Vipal and Kraiburg,” Lukjanovs said.
Juva Plus is on track to finish its first development plans. Lukjanovs says that the next stage to be considered is to expand the capacity to have a production performance of around 17,000 retreads per year. Still, there are several factors in play, and the company plans to carefully assess the market situation before undertaking any significant steps.
“The market looks very unclear. Locally we have huge fleets of international transport working in Western Europe. Our market is very influenced by that. So, the consumption drops, and the growing interest rates cause the biggest fears. We are constantly monitoring the situation in the transportation market and hoping for better news,” Lukjanovs said.
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