Sibur Expands Into Europe

During May’s Essen show, plenty of rumours about Sibur Russian Tyres was bidding for Amtel-Vredestein were circulating. The difficult part was trying to pin someone down to go on the record and confirm what we all thought we knew at the time. Sibur Russian Tyres’ export department head, Oleg A Kataev, for example was tight-lipped when asked about the Amtel-Vredestein/Sibur negotiations. Instead, he was much more interested in explaining how Sibur’s European service has improved since the company opened a new office in Germany.

At the moment this means increasing supply into Germany and the neighbouring markets, particular with regard to Sibur Russian Tyre’s Tyrex truck brand. This direct, concerted sales effort remains a relatively new venture for the Russian company that has (since the deal with Amtel-Vredestein was completed – see elsewhere in this issue for further details) grown from a very strong to totally dominant position in the its domestic Russian market.

The fact that the company is negotiating with some of the leading buying groups in Europe’s largest market shows that Sibur has made significant progress. Last year sales grew roughly 40 per cent here and are set to grow again in 2008.

As far as the company’s show stand was concerned, Sibur Russian Tyres presented its Tyrex commercial vehicle range – apparently the only Russian-produced all-steel truck tyres on the market. In addition the company shows its modern passenger tyre range under Cordiant brand, not to mention a range of agricultural tyres.

Looking forward, the company is continuing to search for new dealers in markets including the UK.