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Sentury’s revenue and net profit in 2022 increased year-on-year. The tyre manufacturer’s annual report shows that last year’s revenue was 6.29 billion yuan (about £760 million; €860 million), an increase of 21.53 per cent. Net profit attributable to shareholders of listed companies was 800 million yuan (approximately £97 million; €1.1 billion), an increase of 6.3 per cent.
On 20 February 2023, the board of directors of Doublestar reviewed and approved the proposal to build a factory in Cambodia. The tyre manufacturer reportedly plans to establish a joint venture with UBE Development Co., Ltd in order to complete the plans.
On 16 February, Marco Polo International Italy S.r.l. (Marco Polo) stated that “Sinochem does not have any plan to sell its stake in Pirelli”. Marco Polo is Pirelli’s largest shareholder, holding a 37.01 per cent stake in the tyre maker. The ownership of Marco Polo belongs to China National Tyre & Rubber Co., Ltd (CNRC) under Sinochem Holdings.
The official Chinese website of Nokian Tyres states that the Finnish tyre manufacturer is withdrawing from business in the Chinese market due to its “limited production capacity”.
At the end of January, three Chinese tyre companies released their 2022 performance forecasts, which show that Aeolus and Linglong are in profit, but reveal huge losses at Doublestar.
On 13 January, Huai’an Customs issued an administrative penalty decision to Jiangsu Hankook Tire Co., Ltd. The subject of the penalty involved 271,000 yuan (approximately £32,500, €36,900) in tax underpayment. The penalty document issued by Huai’an Customs shows that Jiangsu Hankook failed to truthfully declare the price of bonded materials during the process of declaring to the customs.
On 19 January 2023, Aeolus stated that Wang Feng resigned from the role of general manager due to work needs. However, while he has left that position, Wang Feng remains chairman of Aeolus. On 5 December 2022, Wang Feng was appointed as the chairman of China National Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (CNRC), the controlling shareholder of Aeolus
On 18 January, Sailun Group announced an 833-million-yuan (£99.63 million) investment to upgrade OTR tyre production at its plant in Qingdao, China. The upgrade will allow Sailun to produce OTR tyres in sizes up to and including 49-inch. The tyre maker intends to complete this upgrade and adjust its production portfolio within a period of ten months.
On 17 January, Sentury said it will adjust its financing plan through the stock market and specifically non-public offering of shares. After the adjustment, the tyre manufacturer will obtain no more than 2.8 billion yuan (about £330 million; 380 million euros), which is far lower than the 4 billion yuan (about £480 million; 540 million euros) proposed in the previous plan.
As of January 2023, Agustin Pedroni has become general manager of Bridgestone (China) Investment Co. Ltd. Pedroni joined Bridgestone in Argentina in 1996 and worked in administration, sales and marketing roles in Argentina, Latin America and South America. Pedroni came to Bridgestone Asia Pacific in 2019 is the vice president of marketing and sales and was later promoted to the chief operating officer of the Asia Pacific region.
On 11 January 2023, Guizhou Tyre (also known as Advance Tyre) stated that it has terminated one of its recent tyre manufacturing projects before it got to the construction stage. Guizhou Tyre said its “3 million sets of high-performance all-steel radial tyres” a year construction project was closed down effective 31 December 2022.
With the relaxation of epidemic prevention and control policies, China has experienced a large-scale infection wave since early December. Many tyre factories have experienced or are experiencing worker shortages. The Lunar New Year in China is likely to see hundreds of millions of people to move around the country, leading to a more rapid spread of Covid-19. It is difficult to predict when China will shake off the epidemic’s impact; for the Chinese tyre industry, the current wave of infections is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. Ltd (ZC Rubber) recently issued an update on the progress of its initial public offering (IPO). According to the data, Zhongce Haichao (a company established by four local Hangzhou enterprises in 2019 in order to invest in ZC Rubber, namely Hangzhou Great Star Industrial Co., Ltd., Hangcha Group Co., Ltd., Juxing United Holding Group Co., Ltd., and Hangzhou Haichao Enterprise Management Partnership (Limited Partnership) holds 41.08 per cent of the tyre manufacturer’s shares and is the company’s controlling shareholder. Qiu Jianping and his daughter Qiu Fei hold 46.95 per cent of the shares and corresponding voting rights of ZC Rubber through Zhongce Haichao and several other companies and therefore control ZC Rubber.
On 30 December 2022, Sailun held a general meeting of shareholders to elect members of the sixth board of directors. Liu Yanhua was elected chairwoman of the tyre manufacturer, and Xie Xiaohong became president of Sailun. Liu Yanhua’s resume shows that she worked in two accounting firms before coming to Sailun. Prior to being elected as the chair, Liu Yanhua was the vice chairwoman, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Sailun.
Goodyear is investing US$200 million (about 1.37 billion yuan, £170 million, 190 million euros) in its Cooper Kun Shan tyre factory. Following the latest investment, the total investment of the Cooper Kun Shan plant is expected to reach $500 million (about 3.42 billion yuan, £410 million, 470 million euros).
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