Agora Tire Inc. has added a price index for OTR tires to its Web site. According to President Brad Harris, the company is just taking a cue from other industries such as metals and plastic resin that have made commodity pricing available in order to establish a benchmark for fair pricing.
"We simply felt compelled to provide this knowledge to the end-users in the industry in the midst of all the chaos in the market," he says.
Assembly of the pricing chart on the Agora Web site requires daily input from scores of vendors, manufacturers and other suppliers buying and selling OTR tires in the spot market.
Dedicated Agora staff input the data, which is then compiled and sorted by a custom database. Reports are run that show the average monthly pricing by size and tire type.
According to Harris, the shortage of OTR tires over recent years has led to an escalation of pricing, sometimes up to four times what would have been previously paid for the same tire.
"To our knowledge, this is the only OTR tire price index that is available to the public, and it's no secret that it was sorely needed. We're committed to continuing to help end-users by providing this tool for a more stable business environment."
Harris says that Agora Tire also has the capability of doing more detailed analysis upon request.
"For instance, if an end-user is preparing to negotiate a sale and needs a pricing index for a specific type of tire that isn't listed on our Web site, we can help them out."
Harris cautions OTR tire suppliers and end-users not to use the index as the sole means for determining selling prices. The index is a useful guide, he says, but it can't capture buying or selling practices and nuances that are unique to a given business and/or relationship.
For more information on the Agora Tire OTR Spot Market Price Index, visit www.agoratire.com.
