Fo c u s o n Tyre IM PorTs - SA TREADS

14 • Focus on Tyre Imports
stops, incurring huge losses for us. We tried to engage
with SARS on the matter but were unsuccessful.”
Added Alida Mouton of CFP Tyres: “We believe that
pressure from the local manufacturers was the reason
behind these stops by Customs which not only
delayed arrival times but incurred additional costs
resulting in loss of sales and higher prices.”
Pieter Kruger of Tubestone concurred: “The new tyre
companies tried to slow down imports by presenting
SARS with a document stating that imported tyres
were being under-declared, but SARS never took into
consideration aspects such as weight, compound,
tread depth etc. We were hammered with storage and
demurrage bills. The situation was totally ridiculous.”
❝
Clearance times are
unacceptably long and
often exacerbated by
labour unrest and poor
weather conditions
Where to from here?
Amidst turbulent market conditions, the local
tyre producers are struggling to compete in a
price-conscious market. For them, the scrapping
of the agricultural rebate on sizes that are locally
produced will bring some relief, but like their
import counterparts, they will be equally affected
by their inability to claim for a rebate on sizes not
produced locally. At this point in time, only bias ply
herringbone tyres up to a certain size are locally
made whilst Radial Tractor,Radial Row Crop, Radial
Implement, Floatation (Bias as well as Radial),
Forestry (Bias as well as Radial) are fully imported.
For the import sector, the trading platform is
particularly challenging they say, given the Rand/
Dollar exchange rate, and now the cessation of the
But local manufacturers argued that they too experience their fair share of agricultural rebate on which so many had come to rely.
frustrations when it comes to importing tyres they require to supplement
their range.
At least where the agricultural rebate is concerned and according to
Johan Pienaar of Agri SA, all is not lost. “Scrapping the agricultural
Said Gascoyne: “Port efficiency with respect to container unloading is a rebate will place the sector under immense pressure and will severely
problem, especially in the Port of Durban, which is very congested. We hamper our ability to remain competitive, especially under the current
have also experienced similar problems with the Port of Port Elizabeth.”
pressures of wage negotiations. We are in negotiations with ITAC and
believe there is a chance for the agricultural rebate to be re-instated
Apollo’s Haffejee, agreed: “Clearance times are unacceptably long and should we be able to demonstrate the ability to regulate and police this
often exacerbated by labour unrest and poor weather conditions.”
matter ourselves.”
❞
And as for allegations that local producers could well be lowering their prices
in order to dispose of excess stock to augment poor export performance to
Europe, this too, is pure speculation, according to the local four.
“The farming community is dependent on all the assistance it can get,
and costs related to the scrapping of the rebate are already being passed
on to the end user on the part of the tyre importers with potentially dire
consequences,” he said.
The agricultural sector, along with reputable importers, who have been
compelled to up their prices, remain hopeful that a long-term solution
can and will be reached, failing which there appears to be little, if any,
recourse for the import segment of the industry.
*Despite multiple attempts to elicit comment from ITAC, we were
unsuccessful.
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