MRF (Madras Rubber Factory) chose Salalah as the best location for a retreading factory in Oman. The factory opened under the auspices of Abdullah bin Salim Mahad al Rawas head of Oman Chamber of Commerce (OCCI) branch in the governorate of Dhofar. Akram Hassan Abdullah al Murazza director general Ministry of Commerce & Industry was also present on this occasion besides many other representatives of the other ministries.
With an initial production capacity of 1500 tyres for ten tonne and above trucks and tractors the factory has an expandable capacity of more than 300 tyres per month. With this there are about six to seven retreading factories of different brands in Oman. A technical and sales delegation of MRF comprising Inbaraj, Senior Manager- Export Sales; P Bakthavathsalam Assistant Manager- Technical; and Prakash Hulji of MRF’s Dubai branch came to Salalah to mark the launch of the factory.
The factory will work under Al Aetifaq United Trading & Contracting Co LLC having its partners Dr Anwar Mohammed Abdul Aziz al Rawas chairman Sheikh Salim Abdullah Salim al Rawas deputy chairman Manpreet Singh CEO and managing director Khalid Abdullah al Rawas director and Preetinder Kaur director. Terming this to be a landmark occasion for MRF’s retreaded tyres in Oman Inbaraj listed many benefits of retreaded tyres in terms of cost cutting environment protection and safety without any compromise with quality. ‘New tyre is a new tyre.
We do not compare a retreaded tyre with a new tyre. But what we are offering here is 85 per cent mileage which is only 15 per cent less than the new one and these tyres are available only at 25 or 30 per cent of a new tyre’ he said while commenting on economic value of the product. Moreover about 22 gallons of petroleum product is used in making one new tyre. This can easily be curtailed by going for retreaded tyres. ‘There may not be crisis of petroleum products still a lot of oil can be saved and a country can create favorable balance of trade importing less number of tyres’ he said.
Commenting on global practice and reliability of retreaded tyres Inbaraj said: ‘Retreaded tyres are used worldwide in countries like USA UK Australia Malaysia India. Retreaded tyres are even used in aircrafts and they are legally approved worldwide. Retread factories in Oman follow GCC standards and have its license issued by Chamber of Commerce and Municipality’. Retreading is a process that provides tyres with a second life by giving a new tread to a worn tyre. The worn tread is buffed away and a new tread is bonded to the tyre casing.
The techniques are similar to the manufacturing of a new tyre that is bonding a new tread through the application of heat and pressure for a predetermined time. Commenting on its environmental aspect, Inbaraj said ‘ Retreads are environment friendly. Retreading is a recycling process and in one way helps preserve and sustain our environment. Tyres are basically petro-chemical products. It takes approximately 22 gallons of oil to manufacture one new truck tyre. Most of the oil is used in the casing something which is reused in the retreading process. As a result it takes only approximately seven gallons of oil to produce a retread.
Wide based truck tires save even more fuel. A medium sized fleet using only 500 tyres a year would therefore help save more than 27500lt of oil annually. In addition the disposal of casings in landfills is considerably reduced. So retreads are in fact recycled tyres that conserve oil and make a positive contribution to sustainable development’.