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The rubber hits the road at bauma this week

October 24, 2022  By Don Horne


BKT is set up and ready to go at bauma.

Bauma 2022, here we are! The entire construction universe has moved to Munich, the one-of-its-kind marketplace where BKT, as every edition, shows presence among the tire manufacturers.

An amazing and enthusing event after these three years of global crisis. Great are the expectations as well as market development forecasts.

How is the construction market evolving?

Chasing away the threat of a possible surge in inflation, according to forecasts made by “Oxford Economics” in their recently published report The Future of Construction, it is the construction industry going to lead the global economic recovery in the medium term after the pandemic with a growth rate that promises to be faster than that of other sectors.

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The construction industry has, indeed, demonstrated remarkable resilience during the most severe phase of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report shows that the global construction market will grow by USD 4.5 trillion over the next decade reaching 15.2 trillion dollars in 2030.

Closely related to the development of the entire sector, there is the specific construction machinery segment (and consequently the tire segment), which has already shown its growth rate: 2022-2028 >5% (from 150bn USD in 2021 to 200bn USD in 2028. Source: Global Construction Equipment Market).

Accordingly, how is the product “tire” evolving?

It is some time, that research in the tire market for construction and mining equipment has brought forward innovative ideas and proposals for development. Yet, what we are witnessing today is a significant acceleration in laying the foundations of what till some time ago were just projects.

Naturally, sustainability is the guiding light for every manufacturing development strategy paying particular attention to safety.  In the construction market, we can witness the growth of electric and self-driven vehicles, and intelligent and automated equipment, which in turn communicate with responsive tires: tires that are able to tell you the current stage of tread wear; that self-inflate if necessary; that modify the pressure as to the terrain, on which they are used, or according to the type of operations performed by the equipment, on which they are fitted – tires that provide benefit to both budget and the environment thanks to all these sophisticated features.

What about compounds? Apart from tendencies of using new materials such as natural rubber, graphene, and polyester, or nanotechnologies, the most relevant trend is related to multifunctional, hybrid tires, which combine excellent traction with low rolling resistance.

The overall goal is tire and equipment performance based on successful tire design features favoring flotation capabilities, durability, and resistance. In addition, there is a new research trend in materials that are more suitable for reducing noise to improve operators’ health and as a requirement for new electric equipment.


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