São Paulo – BS Colway, a Brazilian manufacturer of retreaded tyres, wants to sell its currently deactivated industrial unit to an Arab country. BS Colway stopped manufacturing tyres in Brazil after the importing of casings, its main raw material, was prohibited last year. The company is engaged in talks for transferring the factory to Syria, Libya and other regions of the world. “We are receiving several proposals for the transfer of our technology and equipment to countries in Latin America, the United States, Europe, Asia and Arab countries,” says the director of corporate affairs at BS Colway, Ozil Pedro Coelho Neto.
BS Colway got in contact with Libyan businessmen by means of the Libyan Embassy in Brasília and of conversations with the honorary consulate of Syria in the state of Paraná. “Our proposal, not only to the Arab countries, but to others as well, is that we will deliver the factory in perfect operating conditions, under the turnkey system, including the transfer of all technology and full operational training to the buyer country,” claims Neto. The director of corporate affairs believes that there are good business perspectives in the Arab world. “Any country that implements a factory with the same qualifications, technical and technological specifications as BS Colway used to have is bound be a large exporter to the Arab world,” he asserts.
BS Colway used to import the casings, which comprise the inner structure of the tyre, from European countries, primarily from Germany, the Netherlands and France. The production capacity of the factory park totals 208,000 tyres per month with three shifts a day. The equipment enables the manufacturing of 40 different measures of tyres for passenger vehicles, pickup trucks and light trucks, with 13- and 18-inch rims. The deactivation of the factory took place in July 2008 and, ever since, the machines have been stored in places that ensure their preservation. In turn, the factory park, located in Piraquara, in the state of Paraná, is being turned into a warehouse for rent.
BS Colway has become an importer of new tyres. The enterprise has a contract for purchasing 1.2 million tyres from Taiwan-based company Maxxis in 2009. Maxxis manufactures products ranging from bicycle to cargo tyres. The Paraná-based company still owns 14 stores for tyre sales. According to Neto, the aim is to open 46 more units before the end of this year. By 2015, the company wants to own 600 stores. BS Colway intends to trade 90,000 tyres a month this year through its sales dealers.
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
