![Versarien appoints chief technology officer](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/59_QWJzdHJhY3QgYmFja2dyb3VuZCB3aXRoIGVhcnRoLmpwZw-scaled-e1602237450291.jpg)
Versarien appoints chief technology officer
Versarien plc, the AIM-listed the advanced materials engineering group, announced on 7 January that it has appointed Dr Stephen Hodge as the companys Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Dr Hodge joined the companys board with immediate effect.
Continue Reading![Dutch tyre wholesale giant to acquire Pon Tyre Group](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/wholesale-warehouse-sml.jpg)
Dutch tyre wholesale giant to acquire Pon Tyre Group
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) announced today that Global Automotive Investments Holding BV, parent company of major tyre wholesalers Inter-Sprint and Van den Ban, intends to acquire PBG BV (Pon Tyre Group), the company that previously distributed the Continental tyre brand in the Netherlands. Global Automotive and current PBG owner Pon Holdings requested permission for the transaction on 29 January.
Continue Reading![Tomket Tires sponsors SK Dynamo](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/210129_tomket_clanek.jpg)
Tomket Tires sponsors SK Dynamo
One of the biggest football clubs in the Czech Republic, SK Dynamo České Budějovice, has named Tomket Tires as its back of shirt partner. The latest investment comes shortly after Tomket Tires announced its partnership with another leading Czech team, FC Zbrojovka Brno. The two Czech football sponsorship moves see Tomket Tires return to the company’s historic roots by sponsoring teams at the forefront of Czech football in the same manner as it does other teams in the top five leagues in global football.
Continue Reading![Linglong bringing Hubtrac brand to USA](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Hubtrac-sidewall.png)
Linglong bringing Hubtrac brand to USA
Towards the end of last year, Linglong Tire announced it would bring its new Hubtrac tyre brand to Europe. The tyre maker also intends to sell this commercial range in the USA, taking advantage of its production site in Thailand and under-construction facility in Serbia to avoid the country’s anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese products.
Continue Reading![NICE – Sumitomo Rubber opens indoor winter tyre test centre](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Sumitomo-NICE-ribbon-cutting.jpg)
NICE – Sumitomo Rubber opens indoor winter tyre test centre
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has inaugurated a winter tyre test facility at its Nayoro Tire Proving Ground on the northern island of Hokkaido, one of its main development sites for winter tyres. The 3,000 square metre Nayoro Indoor ICE Field – NICE for short – is one of the largest indoor on-ice tyre testing facilities in Japan.
Continue Reading![Goodyear and Conmet offer tyre and wheel hub analytics solution](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Conmet.png)
Goodyear and Conmet offer tyre and wheel hub analytics solution
In the US The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and ConMet announced a strategic collaboration to create combined digital solutions that will “better connect commercial truck fleets to the health of their tyres and wheel ends”. Billed as leveraging big data and utilising predict analytics, ConMet’s existing SmartHub is positioned as a stepping stone en route to autonomous vehicle technology.
Continue Reading![Shipping costs temporary, price increases less so](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/pexels-lukas-590022-1-scaled.jpg)
Shipping costs temporary, price increases less so
The effects of the coronavirus and Brexit have led to an increasingly severe shipping bottleneck. The inevitable result of all of these factors is price increases. Tyres & Accessories spoke with Micheldever Tyre Services (MTS) wholesale director Graham Mitchell in order to find out more about what this means for the tyre retail sector. Getting right to the point, are prices going to go up in 2021? “Undoubtedly,” was Mitchell’s immediate and definite response, with the wholesale director pointing to the three main factors behind the current and forthcoming price hikes as well as the different variables associated with each: “Containerised cost of product coming out of the far east…that’s not doubled, that’s quadrupled…a significant on-cost not to be underplayed…and then you’ve got a currency element that’s forcing manufacturing costs up as well.” The good news is that wholesale sources are confident that the containerised element is temporary, but the same cannot be said about other factors.
Continue Reading![USA retains duties on PLT tyres](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/china-usa-tyres-sml.jpg)
USA retains duties on PLT tyres
The USA will continue to apply anti-dumping and countervailing duties to passenger vehicle and light truck (PLT) tyres from China. The U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC) decided against ending the charging of duties, which have applied to these products since 2015, after determining that doing so would “likely to lead to continuation or recurrence of material injury within a reasonably foreseeable time.” Unsurprisingly, the United Steelworkers union applauds the decision.
Continue Reading![BKT Carbon gains online presence](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/BKT_Carbon_sito-1-sml.jpg)
BKT Carbon gains online presence
Balkrishna Industries set up its BKT Carbon subsidiary at the same time as establishing a carbon black plant at its main tyre production site in Bhuj, India. This facility can now produce 140,000 tonnes of carbon black each year. BKT Carbon is responsible for this production as well as global carbon black sales, and now has its own dedicated website: www.bkt-carbon.com.
Continue Reading![Hankook partnering in US intelligent tyre pilot](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Hankook-pilot-sml.jpg)
Hankook partnering in US intelligent tyre pilot
Hankook Tire’s US subsidiary is working with advanced smart tyre technology and predictive data analytics company Revvo Technologies on a pilot programme that will integrate Hankook SmartFlex tyres with Revvo’s product suite to provide critical tyre-specific data. Data generated, such as real-time alerts, will benefit Junk King, North America’s top-rated eco-friendly junk removal and hauling company.
Continue Reading![Vipal evaluating use of rice husk in its compounds](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/vipcomp-068_m-scaled.jpg)
Vipal evaluating use of rice husk in its compounds
Vipal Rubber is researching the possibility of using rice husk residue as a raw material for the rubber industry, the result of a partnership between Vipal, the University of Caxias do Sul, in Brazil, and Lodz Poland University of Technology. Goodyear released a rice husk silica tyre in China in mid-2015, before announcing in November 2020 that is would double its rice husk usage by 2021; and Pirelli announced that it was researching the use of rice husk ash in new tyre compounds back in April 2009; but Vipal is the first retreading compound maker to go public with its use of rice husks in compounding.
Continue Reading![Linglong Serbia amongst Chinese projects under EU scrutiny](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/uvdl-eu-scaled.jpg)
Linglong Serbia amongst Chinese projects under EU scrutiny
On 19 January 2021, 26 Members of the European Parliament wrote to Oliver Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations about concerns relating to “growing Chinese influence in Serbia and the impending environmental damage resulting from several heavy industrial projects in Serbia by Chinese owned companies”. The group are particularly interested in scrutinising Serbia’s apparently “generous” subsidies and environmental compliance protocols.
Continue Reading![Klean Industries and Pyrolysis Hellas SA embark on tyre pyrolysis feasibility study](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/P287_BASF_New-Energy_Shredded_Tires-scaled.jpg)
Klean Industries and Pyrolysis Hellas SA embark on tyre pyrolysis feasibility study
Vancouver, British Columbia-based Klean Industries Inc has been engaged to complete a “Detailed Feasibility Study” to design and build a tyre pyrolysis plant in Greece with Pyrolysis Hellas SA. For the past few years, the two companies have been working together to explore the possibilities of cooperation for the rollout of several facilities through the European Union. With the initial round of funding now completed, both parties are ready to engage upon the next stages of development, feedstock procurement and site design, as a suitable site has been secured and planning permission is underway.
Continue Reading![European OE tyre sales down -18 to -23% in 2020 – ETRMA](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/ETRMA-2.png)
European OE tyre sales down -18 to -23% in 2020 – ETRMA
The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) published its members’ sales for the year 2020 as well as the last quarter of 2020, reporting that Covid 19 “strong affected” the market. The Original Equipment (OE) segments were said to have been “most strongly affected”, recording reductions of -23 per cent in the consumer tyre business and -18 per cent in truck tyres. That much is logical in light of the widespread closure of vehicle manufacturing under pandemic-related lockdown conditions across Europe during 2020.
Continue Reading![Tomket Tires sponsors FC Zbrojovka Brno](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/test1-e1611564748247.jpg)
Tomket Tires sponsors FC Zbrojovka Brno
FC Zbrojovka have welcomed Czech-based brand Tomket Tires as a sleeve sponsor. To support its development, Tomket have invested in a portfolio of sponsorships within motorsport and premium football clubs including being the official partner of Glasgow Rangers, ACF Fiorentina, VFB Stuttgart and a media partner at four English Premier League clubs.
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