Rising Costs Force MAI to Raise MAXAM Tyre Prices

MAI Group recently raised its tyre prices by three per cent and Ian Thomas, head of Sales & Marketing at the company, warned that customers should brace themselves for a further price increase in December, of up to 10 per cent, as raw material costs continue to rocket. He said: "Over the last few months, we have absorbed the raw material price rises, but it has now reached the stage where we are reluctantly having to pass on some of the latest increases to customers."

Thomas continued: “A good example of the scale of the problem is the cost of Malaysian SMR 20 natural rubber, which has risen by 177 per cent this year. The rate of increase has also gone up sharply, with prices rising by almost 30 per cent in the past two months alone, and unfortunately, this trend looks set to continue.”

Because MAXAM OTR tyres contain a high proportion of natural rubber, this has had a pronounced effect on manufacturing costs. However, Ian Thomas reassured customers by insisting that there will be no lowering of standards, saying: “MAXAM tyres have gained a hard-earned reputation for quality and reliability and we will not endanger this by compromising on the quality of our raw materials and we will continue to use only premium components.”

Throughout 2010, numerous tyre manufacturers have been warning that tyre prices will have to increase in order to offset continually-rising raw material costs. Rising costs are affecting every tyre manufacturer in the world and the outlook is for more of the same. The price of natural rubber in particular has soared and shows no sign of coming down in the near future, adding considerably to manufacturing costs.