Second-Hand Tyres Costing More Than New as OTR Shortage Bites

(Akron/Tire Review – Mining Weekly South Africa) Second-hand tyres for large off-road trucks were costing more than new ones because of the biting tyre shortage, Kumba Iron Ore CEO Ras Myburgh told Mining Weekly Online on Tuesday. Myburgh said that the shortage of tyres was at one stage so acute that trucks were grounded for months.

Second-hand tyres were selling in the region of R250,000 each and trucks costing as much as $5-million dollars were being delivered without tyres because of the acute shortage. He said that the JSE-listed Kumba bought tyres separately. “Currently you can get trucks, but you can’t get tyres,” he said. “If you don’t have a long-term supply agreement, you can end up buying brand-new tyres that last only a fraction of what you get from normal suppliers.

“And what most people don’t realise is that second-hand tyres are costing twice as much as brand new ones,” he said.

Mining companies were, in fact, investing in increased tyre-manufacturing capacity and were repaid in kind – with tyres – by the tyre manufacturer. This was done in order to avoid being saddled with sub-standard alternatives.

Kumba had bought tyres brand new that lasted only a 1,000 hours instead of an expected 7,000 hours.