Imported radial tyres start to roll in...

Imported radial tyres start to roll in...
To touch 2 lakh units soon: Dealers body


Manu P. Toms
Mumbai, July 10
With the restriction on import of radial truck tyres lifted, tyres from China, South Korea and Japan are set to flood the replacement and original equipment markets.
According to the All-India Tyre Dealer Federation (AITDF), radial truck tyre imports would soon cross two lakh units a month. About 13 lakh medium and heavy commercial vehicle tyres are sold in the replacement market.
The ban on import of radial truck tyres came last November, following protests from local manufacturers. But commercial vehicle makers and tyre dealers lobbied hard and the Centre lifted the restriction in May.
"The retailing of imported radial truck tyres has just begun. Before the restriction was imposed, last November, imported truck radial tyres were averaging 1.3 lakh units a month. This would have doubled had the restrictions not come in," said Mr S. P.Singh, Convenor, AITDF.
RADIAL TYRES
Radial truck tyres have been replacing cross-ply tyres across the world as they enable higher fuel efficiency and productivity.
It is estimated that radial tyres give operators fuel savings of up to 10 per cent and double the productivity. However, the bulk of domestic production is still the conventional cross-ply and the combined radial truck tyre capacity of manufacturers in India is around 5 per cent of their total capacity. JK Tyres sells about 45,000 radial truck tyres each month followed by MRF, Apollo and Birla Tyres.
Indian manufacturers have been upgrading their truck radial capacity. "Most of the Rs 10,000-crore new investments in tyre manufacturing is in truck radials and by 2016 they should touch 25-30 per cent of total commercial vehicle tyre capacity," said Mr Rajiv Budhiraja, Director-General, All India Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).
JK Tyres doubled truck radial tyre capacity to 80,000 units a month in 2009-10, while Apollo Tyres kicked off production last month. French tyre-maker Michelin will invest Rs 4,000 crore to set up a truck radial tyre plant near Chennai, while Bridgestone has earmarked Rs 2,600 crore for a passenger car and truck radial tyre facility near Pune.
On the limited availability of locally-made truck radial tyres, Mr Budhiraja said, "It is being projected as a capacity issue though it is a pure commercial issue." According to him, the effective import duty on natural rubber in China is 6.8 per cent, while it is 20 per cent in India.
"This puts Indian companies at a disadvantage on the raw material front. Chinese manufacturers enjoy a hidden export subsidy too. The import duty on natural rubber should be brought down," he said. About 75-80 per cent of imported radial truck tyres are from China.

(The Hindu)






Spot rubber rules steady
Aravindan

Kottayam, July 10

Spot rubber remained unchanged on Saturday. The weekend session was rather inactive lacking fresh incentives as the domestic futures ended slightly lower in all contracts.

Sheet rubber closed flat at Rs 185 amidst scattered transactions. The volumes were dull.

Futures slip

In futures, the July series slipped to Rs 187.52 (187.84), August to Rs 179.26 (179.90), September to Rs 172.32 (172.96) and October to Rs 166.73 (166.90) a kg for RSS 4 on National Multi Commodity Exchange (NMCE).

The market finished with a total volume of 4098 lots and a turnover of Rs 73.83 crores. The total open interest in all series was 5319.

Spot rates were (Rs/kg): RSS-4: 185 (185); RSS-5: 180 (180); ungraded: 175 (175); ISNR 20: 162 (162) and latex 60%: 128 (128).