Nortec tyre fires compound Russian military tyre supply bottleneck

As the war in Ukraine drags on into its second year, ongoing vehicle usage as well as the kind of tyre failure episodes that have been reported for the last 12 months mean Russian military tyre supply is as stretched as ever. Indeed, some social media videos show Russian military equipment in active service with less than a complete set of tyres.

Russian military tyre supply woes have been compounded by reports of significant tyre fires in mainland Russia as early as June 2022 and most recently fires at the Nortec tyre manufacturing operation in Altai and a second Nortec location in Moscow between 8 and 9 December 2022.

#UPDATE : It is reported that a manufacturing plant for the production of Nortec tires caught fire. The fire area is about 1000 m².#Moscow #Russia #Russian #fire #Nortec #news #Viral #Russland

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But first an introduction to Nortec. Nortec literature describes the company as the “result of a substantial contribution of knowledge, experience, time, labour and investments”. Nortec tyres are sold through the company’s own sales offices and a “federal network of Poshk tyre centres”.

Nortec focuses on producing tyres that are “especially resistant to wear and stable to deflection” and company representatives report that the firm’s tyres have become “popular [with] the market and gained consumer confidence within a short period of time”.

Furthermore, Nortec’s product range is aimed at “trucks, agricultural and industrial machinery, quads and light-duty trucks” – all of which make the Russian tyremakers products an attractive military replacement tyre source. A quick look at the company’s corporate video combined with details of its recent visit to the Russian-based Army 2022 expo confirm that thesis.

The company’s chief designer, referred to as Streltsov I.N. and technical director (Bayandin A.E) as well as the head of the tender department (Badanin D.V.) visited the international military forum in order to “see what has changed at the exhibition over the past few years, communicate with military representatives, see our tyres on the exhibited equipment, and also negotiate with customers.”

According to those members of staff, “in 2020 only one [exhibited vehicle] had our tyres. [By 2022], a large number of vehicles are already on tyres manufactured by our plant!” These include the vehicles owned by the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Military Urals and tyres for the all-terrain vehicle Arktika – made by special order. In addition, they report that, when it comes to the aviation sector at the exhibition “all equipment was on tyres manufactured by our plant, including the legendary Black Shark helicopter.”

Moving forward, “machines that come with new types of weapons – with laser weapons, with electronic means of combat are already being produced and are being produced from the assembly line at our tyres.” Nortec also supplies tyres for Kamaz and Ural vehicles, which are described as “the main vehicle platforms for the army”.

Fire damage causes ‘significant losses’ at Nortec

Commenting on the reports of fires of the night of 8-9 December 2022 at the production sites of Nortek LLC and YaShZ Avia LLC in the Altai area of Russia, Nortec representatives confirmed that “as a result of the fire, the tyre production plants suffered significant losses” and that “production was disrupted.”

While production was suspended, Nortec’s 1383 workers were being paid at the rate of “at least two-thirds of the average wage of an employee, which is in line with the requirements of [local] labour legislation.”

In order to restore production as soon as possible, the December 2022 plans suggest “the fire-damaged preparatory workshop [could] be divided into parts” in order to put the surviving part” quickly back into operation. According to the company, that approach will ensure the operation can run at at least 50 per cent production capacity for three months. The optimistic forecast is that it is possible to re-launch at 50 per cent capacity within three months. Since the fire took place in December, that would me roughly now.

In the meantime, the affected part of the workshop “will be restored”.  As part of that process, the plan is to “install modern equipment that will double the production capacity compared to the equipment lost in the fire.” Prior to the fire, in September 2022, Nortec invested in the installation of new SPD-3 tyre builders. But the installation did not go according to plan with company representatives commenting:

“It cannot be said that the commissioning and operation of the machine went smoothly and without remarks…The unstable operation of the machine is due to the fact that all installation and commissioning work is carried out by our specialists independently, and this is an imported [Chinese] machine.” It is therefore not clear whether or not future machinery installations will be sourced from the same tyre manufacturing machinery supplier.

Moving forward, and in order to “ensure the fulfilment of state orders”, which – based on the product portfolio and the company’s remarks relating to the Army Expo must include military tyres – “agreements have been reached on the purchase of semi-finished products from third-party manufacturers.”

With the supply of tyres to the frontline so significantly impacted, and with the tyres presently on the front line old, low quality and/or badly maintained, the Russian military is facing a large-scale military tyre supply shortage. At the same time, market sources told Tyres & Accessories that their Chinese tyre manufacturer suppliers were unable to sell them the kind of off-highway truck tyre sizes that would fit the bill. In other words, with zero stocks and with local tyre production under pressure, the Russian military is increasingly turning to Chinese tyre manufacturers to fill its military tyre supply needs.