Tire maker Ceat A senior executive of the company said he is exploring export opportunities for specialty tires in Europe and North America, as well as new markets for midday tires for buses and trucks. The RPG group of companies manufactures tires for two and three-wheelers, cars, buses, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), in trucks, tractors, etc., and currently exports its products to more than 100 countries.

The company has six manufacturing plants in Ambanath (off-road tires), Bandhup, Nashik, Nagpur in Maharashtra, Halol and Chennai in Gujarat.

Kumar Subbiah, CFO, Ceat Tires Ltd “We are working on expanding the specialty industrial market in Europe and North America. We are still looking for new markets for passenger car and truck radial tires.”

The commissioning of the Chennai plant in February this year will boost the company’s export business, he said. Export business usually accounts for 12-13% of total sales.

Ceat has a specialized subsidiary, Specialty, which handles the off-highway tire business for both domestic and international markets.

He referred to the recovery from the impact of Covid-19 since the end of September and said that exports are gradually recovering.

Earlier this week, the tire maker reported a more than four-fold increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 182.18 crore for the second quarter ended September, ended September, month 30.

The company reported a net profit of Rs 43.64 crore in the July-September period of the previous fiscal.

The company’s operating profit for the second quarter stood at Rs 19,784.7 crore as compared to Rs 16,915.5 crore in the same period last year.

During the quarter, the second phase of the company’s manufacturing plant in Nagpur commenced operations from Phase 8 Starting from month 24 From date.

Subbiah attributed the favorable financial performance in the September quarter to the rebound in demand in the replacement market, as well as rebound in two other segments-exports and original equipment manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) Improvements, improved cost management.

“From a manufacturing and service standpoint, we better managed our supply situation, which is a broad reason why we were able to realize revenue growth,” he said. Aftermarket demand recovered, as did OEM export demand. Demand is very close to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels, but only time will tell if demand is sustainable, he said.

Subbah He said that the company has increased its production capacity in Halol, Chennai and Nagpur (two-wheelers) to meet the growing demand and to compete for additional market share in the future.