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INDONESIA
Shearography machine installed at Surubaya facility
Karya to Introduce Precure Retreading Next Year
Bandung based Karya is planning to foray into precure retreading by next year due to the continued
falling stocks of the traditional hot cure process in the Indonesian market. “We may introduce the cold
Sonny Karyadi of Karya
conclusive figures are available due to the fragmented nature of the industry.” It has been known that backyard operators have also grown in huge numbers and are striking at the underbelly of the organised operators. Meanwhile, increasing raw material and electricity prices, as well as rising minimum wage levels have continued an upward trend in the last three years putting further pressure on the already skewed margins. “Raw material prices are up by 20-30 per cent, electricity prices by 25-30 per cent and minimum wages have been hiked by about 40 per cent in the last three years,” complained Harianto. With all these hikes, retreaders have adopted a cautious approach and have not increased their prices. “We have not increased prices to absorb hikes at all levels due to the highly competitive environment prevailing in the industry. The
Harianto Ong, Vice Chairman, Crown Retread
price hike would also give an upper hand to backyard operators who are ready to work at any price as they operate with minimal overheads,” Harianto stated. He finds the market conditions in Indonesia are similar to Malaysia and China.
Crown retreads tyres by both hot and cold processes but runs a majority 90 per cent precure operation. “With the hot market going down, only two of our plants run the hot operation. Previously, five plants retreaded tyres by the traditional hot process,” Harianto added. Besides truck and bus tyres, the company has also been retreading OTR tyres since 1990 and is a formidable player in that segment. Crown operates in the Indonesian market with three qualities of tread liner in various price bands – The premium brand is ‘Crown’ followed by ‘Nagamas’ and ‘Tiger’.