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Alhag noted that Michelin, Bridgestone, Toyo, Sumitomo, and Fires- tone are popular in Abu Dhabi’s tyre market. However, due to their lower prices, Chinese brands like Giti, Sailun, Longmarch, and Be- friend lead. This affordability attracts many transporters, who prefer new Chinese tyres over retreading. The UAE truck tyre market annu- ally needs about 500,000 tyres, mainly steel radials, with bias tyres being less common. The most popular sizes are 12.00 R24, accounting for 50% of consumption, and 315/80 R22.5, comprising about 35%, while other sizes make up the remaining 15%. Alhag stated that tyre retreading in the UAE began in 1970 with Bandag, growing to over thirty companies before the 2008 recession. Initially dominated by the cold process, the industry shifted towards the hot retreading process when police began penalising the poor ap- pearance of cold-retreaded tyres, as hot retreading offers a new tyre look. Most current retreaders now use both hot and cold processes. However, Alhag noted that some retreaders’ use of low-quality mate- rials has negatively impacted the industry. He also commented: “New tyres are not being sold according to their retreadability. The end-us- er hasn’t reached this level of understanding yet,” indicating that there are still areas for education in the market. Alagyad’s factory spans 5,000 square kilometres and uses Indian machinery, as described by Alhag. The facility includes two inspec- tion machines for initial and final checks, two buffer machines, two skiving stations, a builder, an envelope spreader, and a seven-tyre pressure chamber. Five years after starting, five moulds were add- ed. They source their Camelback from Midas & Speed Suppliers in India, while tools are mostly purchased locally or sometimes imported from Italy. The factory has gained customer trust since its inception, particularly for its meticulous initial inspection process, often supervised by Shokier. The appearance and qual- ity of retreaded tyres have been crucial for their success, aiding customer satisfaction and passing periodic Police Authority tyre inspections. Alhag highlights that 70% of Alagyad’s production involves cus- tomer-owned casings (COC), with the remaining 30% being cap and casing. This reflects end users’ knowledge about the tyre life- cycle and trust in Alagyad for retreading services. Alagyad employs three salespeople who begin customer engage- ment by assessing working conditions, offering trial tyre sets, monitoring performance, presenting technical reports, and con- ducting cost-per-kilometre comparisons. Their strategies include emphasising the retread’s initial lower cost, which is 45-55% of a new tyre’s price, and 10-15% of that for cap and casing. Alhag shared that Shokier anticipates increasing demand for tyre retreads over the next five years due to greater user awareness about retreading benefits. Shokier plans to upgrade machinery to meet this expected growth. Shokier’s vision for Alagyad is to be a wholly reliable tyre service provider with a mission focused on sustainability. COUNTRY REPORT - UAE P.24