Trelleborg Increases Industrial Tyre Prices

Trelleborg Wheel Systems has announced price increases ranging from 8 to 10 per cent, depending on country and local currencies. According to the company, these increases will affect both the replacement and Original Equipment manufacturing channels Trelleborg operates in. Trelleborg signalled that further price increase may be necessary during the course of 2008.

A company statement on the matter explained that Trelleborg Wheel Systems was “forced to act” by “the continuous and relevant increase of the cost of raw materials, made even worse by the strong acceleration seen in the first quarter.” The news comes two weeks after Watts Industrial Tyres raised its prices between 6 and 10 per cent, citing “limited worldwide rubber production.”

Trelleborg reports that, over the last few years, it has minimized the impact of rising costs through enhanced production efficiency and advanced compound knowledge. However, Bruno Belpietro, President of Trelleborg Industrial Tires, conceded: “The escalation of raw material, energy and transport costs can no longer be absorbed significantly, as was the case in the past…”

“We do not believe that this constant growth is the result of seasonal factors or speculation, at least not in such a way that it can distort the underlying phenomenon; we see this as the outcome of a general and consolidated imbalance between market demand and the cost of raw materials and it will continue, at least, for all of 2008.”