Price hikes, new labelling systems and tangible economic support in favour of purchasing tires. These are some of the key issues Assogomma (Rubber and Plastic Association) taken into consideration by the association’s year-end evaluation. The price trend of rubber products, linked to the increase in the cost of raw materials, has had a strong impact on the sector: "We are experiencing a real economic storm - said Fabio Bertolotti, director of Assogomma -. In less than one year we have seen an unprecedented increase in raw materials. For this reason, the production costs of rubber items, including tires, has increased by over 50%. This price increase applies to natural rubber, synthetic rubber and all rubber chemicals. There is, no doubt, a speculative phenomenon with several stakeholders aggressively hoarding raw materials with further aggravation of costs. Added to this transport, steel, containers and, last but not least energy have all gone up. The latter, in particular, accounts for about 3 or 4% of the costs but it is expected double soon. These higher costs, in theory, should be passed on to the finished products with an impact of at least 25% over current prices, but being hardly feasible all that this will accomplish is reduce margins. We expect that in the short term, consumers will find it more difficult to find the tire they want, and prices will rise by double digits. The Asian market is also suffering from the same price dynamics to which higher transport costs are added. As a result, prices between premium brands and lesser-known brands are becoming narrower with possible positive effect on both road safety and environmental sustainability as consumers may be more attracted to premium products given the small price difference."
New labelling protocol for tires with 3PMSF symbol
The subject of tire labelling is not a new one. In fact, ten years ago, in order to help the consumer in his choice, European legislators imposed a labelling system which, in addition to declaring parameters relating to energy savings or rolling resistance in the case of tires (the best class reduces fuel consumption by up to 7%), introduced other parameters relating to safety, such as grip in wet conditions (the best class allows a reduction in braking distance of up to 30%). A few months ago, however, new labels came into force with some new features and two new important symbols. One refers to winter tires and is the 3PMSF symbol, i.e. a pictogram that shows a mountain with three peaks and a snowflake inside. This is a symbol that drivers have come to recognize and that is now also present on the label. Specifically, a tire that has this symbol on the sidewall indicates that it has passed a specific approval test on snow. The new labelling system, though, has introduced also the Ice symbol. This is a new marking, always in addition to the Alpine pictogram, which means that the tires in question have been designed for particularly harsh winter climates, with the presence of stratified ice on the ground, tested in compliance with specific internationally recognised test procedures. The ice grip pictogram indicates that the tire offers the best safety and grip performance in the difficult winter conditions typically found in northern Europe, which are generally very different from those found in our country. The recommendation is always to use tires designed for the specific environmental conditions of the country in which you normally drive.
Incentives for consumers who choose high-performance class A and B tires
European institutions, well aware of the advantages for the entire community both in terms of environmental sustainability and road safety, and as an exception to the rules that prohibit state aid, has decreed that Member States can grant incentives to promote the purchase of class A or B products which feature better rolling resistance and wet grip. "The only thing left to do is to implement what has already been indicated by European authorities - Bertolotti pointed out -. Assogomma's invitation to the Government is to define a package of measures that will implement this clear direction. An operation with beneficial effects both for the environment and road safety. An immediate and tangible option would be to provide incentives for the purchase of class A or B tires. This will have immediate effects on fuel consumption, on the reduction of harmful emissions and on road safety. Today, in Italy, we consume about 40 billion litres of fuel (petrol and diesel) at an estimated cost of about 60 billion euro. The use of class A or B tires is estimated to result in savings of over 2 billion litres, equal to over 4 billion euro, reducing CO2 emissions in the order of 7 million tons per year".
