Nynas exec to explain how Naphthenic tyre oils boost performance

Thorsten Lutze to speak at the 8th Global Rubber and Tire Markets conference in August

Thorsten Lutze, global market manager for Tyre Oil at Nynas AB has announced that he will offer a presentation on the role and contribution of naphthenic oils in today’s global tyre market on 21 August 2014. The speech, which focuses on how naphthenic oils can help boost tyre performance, will take place at 11:40 am as part of the 8th Global Rubber and Tire Markets conference at the Meridien hotel in Jakarta, Indonesia.

According to the company, the conference is a gathering of key stakeholders across the tyre, automotive and rubber industry and runs from 20-21 August 2014. The aim is to discuss themes relating to the influence of tyre manufacturing on the rubber industry and vice versa, as well as Asia’s increasing dominance as a leading rubber and tyre consumer and technological advancements in tyre manufacturing.

Thorsten Lutze has 10 years of experience in sales and marketing in the tyre and polymer segment globally. After graduation in Chemical Engineering from Dortmund University, Germany in 2002, he held key positions within the Chemical Industry department for Nynas as marketing manager and sales manager for process oils. Since 2008 he has been the Tyre Oils marketing manager for Nynas AB.

Lutze’s speech follows the company’s presence at Rubber and Tyre Vietnam 2014 at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam in mid-May 2014. Then Nynas’s Dr Kamyar Alavi spoke on: “Low PAH naphthenic process oils as plasticizers in tyre and technical rubber applications”.

 ‘On the offensive’ in emerging markets

And all this feeds into the company’s broader strategy of reaching both manufacturers looking to improve the performance characteristic of their tyre products and those located in fast-growing emerging markets. To this end Swedish-based Nynas ramped up its support for the latest Brazilian tyre operations last year.

For example was in place when Sumitomo Rubber do Brasil, an integral part of Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. kicked off its tyre operations at their new factory in the city of Fazenda Rio Grande in the southern part of Brazil in 2013. The facilities are located within a half a million square metre plot at the time Sumitomo said that around US$300 million have been invested in the project. The goal is for the factory to become capable of delivering an output of approximately 15,000 tyres per day by 2015. In preparation for this Nynas met with Sumitomo’s Purchasing and Quality Assurance Departments to align important information for both companies aiming to comply with the expected volume growth in 2014.

According to the company, Nynas’ cooperation with Sumitomo Rubber shows the importance of its global structure. The whole process of approval on Nytex 4700 tyre oil was conducted by Nynas Asia. Later on, Sumitomo Rubber visited Nynas do Brasil’s local depot and learned more about the logistic system. The visit confirmed that their choice of tyre process oil supplier was the right one.

In addition, earlier last year, Nynas described itself as being “on the offensive” in Indonesia. Despite the financial turbulence in the world, major investments were planned in various markets including the tyre industry.

Nynas has been selling transformer oils in the Indonesian market since the late 1990s, initially from its Hong Kong office. A depot was opened in 1998, and 10 years later a sales office opened for business in the capital city of Jakarta. Nynas reports that the product portfolio has grown throughout the years and now includes tyre oils and lubricating oils, as well as specialty oils for the chemical industry.

The idea is to connect to the rapid expansion of the local and global economy connected to Indonesia. For example consecutive years of double digit growth in the automotive market is said to have created a domino effect in several other markets.

Furthermore Indonesia is taking steps towards becoming a competitive export country with high-quality products. One challenge still remaining in a country of about 13,000 islands is transport. This means that advanced logistics and planning are often required, something to which Nynas says it is paying special attention.