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MRF, the leading tyre maker, is all set to become a homegrown brand. The company will cut down imports by developing raw materials with local players. Sulphur, butyl rubber, microcrystalline wax, and tackifier resin, are among the few materials that the company plans to manufacture with the help of domestic partners.
In its Annual Report of 2021, KM Mammen, the chairman & MD of MRF states that the company has made substantial changes in the material mix to ensure environmental friendliness of the tyres. The focus would be to find sustainable sources to manufacture tyres in the long run. The changes will come for both two-wheelers and passenger car tyres.
Mammen continued to say, “To improve the sustainability of tyre industry, the company is working on the multi-pronged ‘4R’ strategy, that is to reduce (reduction in CO2 emission by developing low RR tyres), recycle (recycle materials from end-of-life tyres as raw materials for new tyres), reuse (by promoting multiple re-treaded tyres) and renewable (promoting critical tyre raw materials from environmentally sustainable sources such as biomass and waste materials),”
The companies’ markets across West Asia, Africa, along with Indonesia, Bangladesh, and the Philippines, continue to see a rising demand for its tyres. Radial light truck and motorcycle tyres saw continued growth in demand due to MRF’s strong brand presence in these markets.
The company also suggests that even though the pandemic has continued for a while, the demand for its products will grow across different categories. The company said there is pent-up demand in multiple segments as several backlogs have stacked up in rural and urban areas. There was a visible impact of covid-19 on the automobile industry, but the company believes it will grow in the long run, even though there were short-term negative impacts.
