MMTC to import and market Chinese truck and bus tyres for the after-market

Kolkata: State run MMTC Ltd has reportedly finalised plans to import and market truck and bus tyres made in China in the domestic market.

Reports indicate that the plans will turn into action by next month, with imports commencing for cross-ply and radial tyres in April.

MMTC will probably be the first setup that will market purely imported wares in the tyre industry, with reports indicating that it has plans to corner around 15 to 20 per cent of the 1.2 lakh import market for bus tyres in India. However, for now, the company does not have plans for importing of raw material or for manufacture of tyres.

MMTC will market its imports directly to state transport corporations, as well as set up a dealer network to facilitate retail sales. Reports say that the company is already in the process of picking suppliers, and has meetings scheduled with large customers and dealers.  For now, the imports will largely cater to replacement demand in the after-market, as there are no known plans for supplies to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

China is one of the largest sources for imported tyres, which make up arould 14 per cent of the domestic truck and bus tyre market. Industry sources indicate that monthly imports have grown from an approximate 85,000 tyres to 1.2lakh - 1.4lakh units over the last three quarters. Of this, cross-ply tyres have dropped to less than 30 per cent of the total imports once the anti-dumping duty was imposed starting July 2007.

Tyre imports were primarily managed by less than 40 smaller players, and the entry of an entity such as MMTC is widely seen as a consolidator in the market, as it is expected to garner volumes that the earlier fragmented fraternity could not command.