Wheels India plans to start cast aluminium wheels export to the US from September

Wheels India Limited has planned to export forged aluminium wheels to the US. This would meet the market demands in the US market. The company’s new cast aluminium wheel plant will begin exports to the market from September.

“The financial year will be a difficult one due to declining economies in India and Overseas. However, taking a longer term view, we have invested in a cast aluminium wheel factory that will start exports to the US market from September. The demand for the company’s forged aluminium wheels in international markets is expected to improve in the coming year,” said S Ram, Chairman, Wheels India at the 61st AGM of the company.

The new initiatives made by the company in the supply of welded and machined parts for the wind energy sector to international companies witnessed substantial growth in the last financial year. The supply of bogie frames to the Indian Railways also saw growth in the mentioned year. The company expects demand to recover post lockdown.

“He said that amidst all the negativity, one silver lining has been how the Farm Sector has performed so far. With good monsoon rains and government support through higher prices and timely purchase by the Food Corporation of India, the agricultural sector is expected to grow. After the decline last year, these factors will auger well for the agricultural tractor sector, where Wheels India is a major supplier of Wheels,” Ram added.

“The passenger car market saw a decline for the first time in decades in the last financial year and has been severely affected by the lockdown and prospects in the coming year. However, it is expected that the market demand could shift to small cars and utility vehicles in the coming year,” he said.

He hopes small commercial vehicles demand to improve post lockdown. The tippers demand will depend on implementation of infrastructure projects.

Srivats Ram, Managing Director of Wheels India Ltd, said: “The Covid impact on company’s business was significant in the first 45 days of the year with the complete lockdown. In June, our capacity utilization was around 42 per cent. Starting Q3 and Q4, we should start seeing a pick-up in business from the current levels.”