SAUDI ARABIA imports more than one million cars annually worth a combined SR82 billion. Normally, the age of a tire is around two years, but many tires last considerably less on the Kingdom's roads. To extend the life of tires, motorists often resort to retreading them. According to a report in Alsharq Arabic daily, more than four million tires were imported to the Kingdom between 2009 and 2013. Retreading is a re-manufacturing process for tires that replaces the tread on worn tires. Retreading is applied to casings of spent tires that have been inspected and repaired. It preserves about 90 percent of the material in spent tires and the material cost is about 20 percent compared to manufacturing a new one. Some casings are repaired and some are discarded. Tires can be retreaded multiple times if the casing is in usable condition. However, some factories use low quality materials which means there is a high risk for accidents caused by burst tires and similar defects. Inspection raids The Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in cooperation with the Saudi Arabian Standards Organization (SASO), launched a vigorous campaign against such factories. The ministry warned that stringent punitive measures, including closure of the facilities and penal action against owners will be pursued. It recently began intensifying inspections on tire retreading plants, which are spread out all over the Kingdom's regions. Within the last two months, the ministry has shut down 12 factories in Jeddah, Riyadh and the Eastern Province for violations of national safety standards. In Jeddah alone, four factories have been closed and more than 2,500 tires of poor quality were seized. Three factories in Al-Zulfi, two in Riyadh and three in the Eastern Province were also shuttered. During the raids, inspectors from the ministry found a number of violations, including non-compliance with Saudi standards and poor storage. Several retreaded tires were found stored in open areas under direct sunlight. According to the ministry, the factories that were closed down had permission to recycle and renew tires of trucks provided that used tires are renewable and in compliance with industry standards. SASO has issued 24 standards with regard to tires and rims with the objective of protecting lives and property as well minimizing accidents. The standards include several conditions and technical specifications for tires such as specifying date of manufacturing, persistence and bearing capacity and speed. These standards also specify that the age of a tire should not exceed two years for cars, buses and light trucks and two and a half years for heavy trucks. There is also a condition that the agent of the vehicle or distributor of tires should consumers a minimum one-year warranty. Many have said it is high time to establish factories for tires in line with the standards set by SASO and have also called for laws to halt the flow of cheap and low quality tires in the local market.
