With sales totalling 80.1 million euros in 2006, Kraiburg Austria has succeeded in improving its figures compared to the previous year. Of this some 58.6 million euros was ascribable to the “Retreading Material” business unit. The retreading specialist was therefore able to post a 6.8 per cent and 5.5 per cent increases in sales compared to 2005. Kraiburg is reportedly satisfied with this result, despite the fact that the profit situation is not quite so positive owing to the 23 per cent rise in the price of raw materials in 2006.

Development of Kraiburg plus, hot and precured market

Reflecting the performance of the company’s premium products in general, the sale of premium profiles Kplus 30 improved year-on-year by a further 2.5 percentage points and now accounts for more than 15 per cent of the total sale of precured treads. The precured segment also improved slightly in the past year: Thus, two per cent more precured treads were sold than in 2005, with Germany and the Czech Republic achieving the largest growth in absolute terms.

Parallel to this, the hot-cure retreading segment posted an unexpectedly high increase in sales of 10 per cent in 2006 – despite raw-material-related price increases. In this segment the markets in Germany and the UK were especially successful. By contrast, the eastern markets, e.g. the CIS states, grew slower than anticipated, with a slight decline in deliveries in 2006. Pricing pressure increased further in southeastern Europe owing to low-cost suppliers continuing to penetrate these markets.

Top-sellers in 2006

A quick glance at the Kraiburg 2006 top-seller list shows that here, as in other areas of use, the market is calling for all varieties of modern and contemporary tread: Thus the standard Kraiburg range is spearheaded by the treads K202, K203 and K208. In the Kraiburg plus premium segment the high-performance compounds KDY3, K729 and K730 are in particular demand.

2007 outlook optimistic for SMEs

The stabilisation in the German-speaking market, in which fewer insolvencies were reported in the previous year, has no doubt had a positive influence on the overall mood. Kraiburg Austria also sees good prospects for a successful course of business for 2007. Against the backdrop of the anticipated further rise in the price of raw materials by an average of 10 per cent, the key issue continues to be the optimisation of profitability. The consequences include price adjustments, among other things. Parallel to this, the retreading specialist is concentrating harder than ever on its profitable core markets in central Europe and on its most profitable products. Investment in machine technology and product- and process engineering are also scheduled for this year.