WHEELING GROWTH

Increase in infrastructural spends, government subsidies, and rapid mechanization in agriculture are expected to boost the OTR tires requirement. Prajakta Karnik takes a peek into the technological advances achieved in this space as well as the opportunities going forward.

Significant growth in the construction industry in the last couple of years has propelled the demand for heavy duty construction vehicles. Going by the data published by Statista, by 2025, the Indian construction equipment market is expected to exceed USD 4.7 billion. This will further catalyse the market for off-the-road (OTR) tires.

Overview

Over the years, India has emerged as one of the leading manufacturing and consumption hub of the OTR tires, in the construction, mining and agriculture sectors.

These bulky tires are installed on heavy equipment like cranes, telescopic handlers,  wheel loaders, tractors, all terrain vehicles, military trucks and specialised purpose vehicles, among others. OTR tires have the ability to provide high heady and rolling resistance, better durability, enhanced vehicular performance, optimum stability and easy mobility, among others.

A recent report by a market research firm IMARC Group, the OTR tire market in India gree at a CAGR of around 7% during 2015-2020. This is largely on the back of the initiatives taken by the government to create robust infrastructure across the country.

Similarly, the growing agriculture industry has resulted in increased penetration of OTR tires in the tier 2 and 3 cities.

“The OTR sector has continued to remain strong, in spite of the global circumstances, as a result of new age offerings that have become increasingly popular within dependent industries. Owing to countless growth opportunities such as rapid urbanization, heavy duty construction, largescale mining, global technological advancement, the construction & mining world remains more active than ever, and a result the OTR tyre domain has advanced significantly in recent times,” Rajiv Poddar, Joint Managing Director, Balkrishna Industries said.

Key Trends

In the last few years, owing to the advancement in technologies and demand for higher efficiency of equipment, radial tires are gaining more popularity over bias tires.

As compared to bias ply tires, radial tires provide improved motion comfort as they absorb impact of bump independently without transferring that through the entire interconnected structure of the tire.

Radial tires also improve tire tread life due to its superior heat management technology. They also provide excellent tire flexibility and road surface interaction. On the contrary, bias ply tires were particularly less flexible because of the stiff tire structure.

Besides, radial tires create a better, more consistent tread contact patch when cornering and under load, thus resulting in a more responsive, better-controlled vehicle. Also, radial tires are not just plain easier to drive and control, but they achieve superior fuel economy thanks to lower rolling resistance, and again, less heat buildup.

“Radials are cost effective investments leading to high productivity & performance requirement leading to demand of radial tires. Segments like mining, underground metals, etc. demand high radialization due to the nature of operation. Mining demands performance-oriented tires with low cost of operation. Radials have major advantage in this space due to higher life, higher load conditions, Better fuel consumption, puncture resistance, lower wear & tear, operator comfort to name a few,” Sunil Puri, Head – Commercial Business, Bridgestone India said.

According to a report by TechSci Research, technology and connectivity aiding the management of OTR tires. The report highlights a few tech trend in the OTR tire space as mentioned below:

Tire Management Software

From original installation to the scrap pile, tire management software gives fleet managers a complete history of every tire. In addition to helping fleet managers make more informed decisions about the tire selection and document in-depth descriptions of the tire condition, the software allows a better cause-and-effect analysis of tire problems. The software can even document the condition of removed tires with remaining life to ensure that they can be reinstalled and used to their full potential rather than being thrown in the waste.

Tire Pressure Monitoring System

The Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is installed internally on the tires and set to integrate with the telematics system of the machine. The system monitors internal operating temperatures and real-time inflation pressures. Some of the benefits of TPMS include less variance in tread wear, increase stability, and the ability to retread a tire if necessary.

Intelligent Tires

Tires are becoming more intelligent as they continue to become connected. Intelligent tires are a new concept that tell useful information about your tire including traction, tread wear, load, and temperature through a small sensor. The smart tires allow continuous connectivity and real-time data sharing, which ensure safe end-result and cost-efficient mobility and maximized uptime. 

OTR Tire- Supply chain and sustainability OTR tires for mining and construction are produced at very few plants in the world. It takes more than a day to build one giant OTR tire to manufacture and cure it in a press. And only a few companies across the globe have the advanced technology and expertise to build moulds. Leading OTR tire producers such as Bridgestone, Michelin and Yokohama have invested significantly in the past years to accelerate their production capacity. Witnessing growth forecasts, suppliers such as Cabot are now sharpening more attention to OTR and expanding capacity. In case of large OTR tires, sustainability is another area of potential development, which is less about extending service life through retreading and more about recyclability.

A close partnership with customers and sustained fieldwork would drive the incisive OTR producers to become more agile, and better at adjusting capacity for growth or contraction.

Besides, different variants of heavy duty tires are also introduced depending on the end-user demand.

Solid Tires

Apart from radial tires, there is rise in demand for solid tires to prevent flat tires and the downtime associated with changing tires, especially in remote locations. Made from whole rubber, solid tires serve as a good alternative as they have high elasticity, good heat dissipation, better stability, large surface area, good wear resistance, and better grasping ability, the report said.

Airless Tires

The other product that is gaining more traction is airless OTR tires. These tires are a new type of airless (semi-solid) tires, designed specifically for heavy duty industrial machines, agricultural and construction vehicles. The airless tires are a maintenance-free OTR tire, which provides exceptional tread life, soft-cushioned ride, and durability, enhancing operator comfort and machine transmission life, it said.

Low Sidewall Tire

Low sidewall OTR tire feature a larger rim diameter and smaller sidewall than traditional tire options to enhance the productivity of equipment operator. Besides being more durable, low sidewall OTR tires offer decreased flexibility and reduce the chance of recoil and bouncing while working. In addition, low sidewall tires allow for carrying the same weight at 40% less inflation than standard OTR tires, making an excellent choice for those operating within the mining and construction industry.

Multipurpose Tires

Due to rise in rental tire market, the end-users in the construction and mining segment need to deal in an array of different environments. The equipment can be used on either soft surface or off-road, depending on the job site location, which creates a need for customers to seek a more versatile and multipurpose tire solution.

Covid Impact

Covid 19 pandemic had adversely impacted the construction industry in 2020 due to a complete shutdown of economic activities for a significant part of the year. Even manufacturing activities were stalled. However, during the second wave, this year, the impact on businesses was lesser as the governments had not stalled construction and manufacturing activities.

According to Poddar, the OTR sector has continued to remain strong, in spite of the global circumstances, as a result of new age offerings that have become increasingly popular within dependent industries.

“Owing to countless growth opportunities such as rapid urbanization, heavy duty construction, largescale mining, global technological advancement, the construction & mining world remains more active than ever, and a result the OTR tyre domain has advanced significantly in recent times. The supply of raw materials did act as a minor setback for the domain, due to logistical issues put forth by Covid-19, but the segment quickly recovered owing to its proactiveness and was relatively unaffected by the pandemic,” he added.

According to estimates, the share of radial tires in the OTR market will increase to 6.17 per cent in 2025 from 4.93 per cent in 2019.

Demand Drivers

India has planned to invest USD 1.4 trillion on various infrastructure projects by 2025 including projects related to ports, railway, roads, across the country. Besides, the private sector is also infusing investments in  construction space. This is projected to intensify the demand for tires for construction and earthmoving equipment in India.

Additionally, OEMs are also adopting technology to improve efficiency, performance and productivity. As a result OTR tire manufacturers are also modernising their offerings to provide tires that are equipped with high abrasion resistance, and fuel and energy efficiency features.

“Infrastructure development is gaining good traction due to government spending and focus on mining sector through commercialization. This has definitely been a catalyst for demand. With the announcement & online bidding for commercialization of coal mining, the mining segment is certainly bound to grow in the coming years. The infra/construction segment is slowly catching up on radialization. The demand across sectors are pretty much stable amid the Covid situation,” Puri added.

Outlook

The OTR tire market is expected to exhibit a significant growth in the coming years. On one hand, there segment is expected to witness growth with the addition of new fleet in the heavy equipment sector and on the other, the replacement market is opening new opportunities for OTR tire manufacturers.

Globally, the OTR tire market is projected to breach the revenue of USD 10.6 billion by the end of 2030. According to statistics, it is expected to continue growing at a rate of 4.5% from 2021 to 2027, to reach a market size of USD 8.06 billion.

“A key driving factor spearheading growth in the domain is the rising demand for construction, agriculture and mining machinery, owing to heavy industrialization. The rapid expansion, and urbanization of developing countries, speedy technological advancements, and the evolution of new age OTR offerings that can operate in difficult terrains as well as the privatization of coal in India are key aspects further spurring the demand for OTR tyres,” Poddar added.

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