Watts Industrial Polymers – Expanding into New Markets

Gloucestershire based Watts Industrial Polymers is a leading producer of tyre and retread compounds and related materials both at home in the UK and in numerous export markets. From their manufacturing facilities in Lydney, where the company’s headquarters is also located, Watts supplies polymer compounds in strip, slab and camelback form as well as sidewall veneers and ancillary materials.

At present 60 per cent of the company’s retreading products are sold on the UK market, but according to Clive Rickards, export sales manager at Watts Industrial Polymers, the proportion of exports is increasing. “Our key export markets at present are mainland Europe and Canada,” Rickards explained to Tyres & Accessories. He added that Watts’ fastest growing markets are those in some of the European Union’s newest territories. “Eastern European markets, such as Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are fast growing markets,” he said, “primarily due to the low labour costs in these countries.”

In the bulk of Watts’ export markets the retreading products in highest demand are, according to Rickards, those for use in passenger car tyres. In particular, summer and winter tyre products, UHP tyre products and those for 4×4 vehicles are top sellers, with sales of winter tyre products most concentrated in Eastern European markets where harsher conditions and government regulations make them a very attractive product offering.

With sales in Eastern Europe showing such healthy growth, it is hardly surprising that Watts sees this market as a priority for the immediate future. “We will continue our push into Latvia, Lithuania and Poland,” confirms Rickards. He indicated that Watts is also casting an eye towards the Scandinavian market, particularly Sweden, where the company currently does not hold a significant market presence.

And while Watts is broadening its horizons in terms of export markets, the production of retreading compounds and materials remains a strictly homegrown affair. Rickards confirmed to Tyres & Accessories that all Watts retreading materials will continue to be manufactured at the company’s environmentally certified facility in Lydney for the foreseeable future.