Abu Dhabi is living through a massive construction boom, which strongly affects consumption and demand for tyres. Mr Aly Shokier, the Founder of the Alagyad Tyre Retreading factory, believed in retreading from the perspective of reusing tyres and offering them back to end users at lower prices than new ones to serve a second life. Before starting the company, Mr. Aly Shokier worked with his own hands in tyre repairs.
Success By Returning to the Origin
In 2007, Mr. Shokier appointed Eng. Abdullah Alhag to oversee factory operations, particularly the financial department. Eng. Alhag has extensive knowledge of Abu Dhabi’s transport and tyre market, focusing on the harsh conditions tyres face in the construction sector, often in off-road, high-temperature desert environments. He also keeps track of the evolving transport market, noting that tipper trailers constitute 40% of Abu Dhabi’s trucking market, followed by tanks and cement silos at 20%, with other truck applications making up the remaining 40%. Additionally, the UAE government strictly enforces highway payload regulations through nationwide weighbridges and fines for overloaded vehicles.
Private-sector transporters dominate the transport industry, with public-sector companies often outsourcing. Trucking companies typically maintain fleets ranging from five to fifty trucks.
Eng. Abdullah Alhag noted that Michelin, Bridgestone, Toyo, Sumitomo, and Firestone are popular in Abu Dhabi’s tyre market. However, due to their lower prices, Chinese brands like Giti, Sailun, Longmarch, and Befriend lead. This affordability attracts many transporters, who prefer new Chinese tyres over retreading. The UAE truck tyre market annually 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%.
Eng. Abdullah 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 appearance 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 materials has negatively impacted the industry. He also commented: “New tyres are not being sold according to their retreadability. The end-user 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 Mr Abdullah Alhaj. The facility includes two inspection 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 added. 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 Mr. Aly Shokier. The appearance and quality of retreaded tyres have been crucial for their success, aiding customer satisfaction and passing periodic Police Authority tyre inspections.
Mr Abdullah Alhaj highlights that 70% of Alagyad’s production involves customer-owned casings (COC), with the remaining 30% being cap and casing. This reflects end users’ knowledge about the tyre lifecycle and trust in Alagyad for retreading services.
Alagyad employs three salespeople who begin customer engagement by assessing working conditions, offering trial tyre sets, monitoring performance, presenting technical reports, and conducting 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.
Mr Alhaj shared that Mr Aly 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. Mr. Shokier’s vision for Alagyad is to be a wholly reliable tyre service provider with a mission focused on sustainability.
