![EU lists natural rubber as a critical raw material](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/import/thumbnail/article_medium/news__natural_rubber_172719806.jpg)
EU lists natural rubber as a critical raw material
The European Union has added natural rubber to its list of critical raw materials, a document that was published on 3 September 2020. Listing the main global production centres as Indonesia (31 per cent); Thailand (18 per cent); and Malaysia (16 per cent), the EU underlined that 100 per cent of European requirements are imported and that tyres and rubber components are the principal uses.
Continue Reading![Falken launches tenth fuel card promotion in continental markets](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/02_falken_audi_a7_final_v2_srgb-scaled.jpg)
Falken launches tenth fuel card promotion in continental markets
Falken Tyre Europe has launched its 2020 “Falken says Tanke” promotional campaign in Germany, Austria and other European core markets. From 15 September to 30 November, customers will receive a 20-euro prepaid card for refueling and shopping when buying Falken winter or all-season tyres in participating retailers. In addition, participants from Germany have the chance to win one of 25 Shell fuel vouchers worth 100 euros. There are also 100 opportunities to win the Shell V-Power Smart Deal, worth 119.99 euros, allowing winners to fill up with V-Power fuels at the price of standard fuels. Falken is also giving away a total of 17 pairs of Dalbello ski boots in the Benelux countries, Germany, Austria, and Poland. These boots come with a co-polymer sole named GripWalk, providing extra snow grip – an analogy to winter tyres’ performance on snow.
Continue Reading![GRI factory receives VIP visit](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/BR1-DSC_9391-scaled.jpg)
GRI factory receives VIP visit
GRI recently hosted politicians from Sri Lanka’s Presidential Task Force on Economic Revival and Poverty Alleviation. Specifically, national dignitary Basil Rajapaksa made a visit to GRI’s new factory, which purportedly one of the largest specialty tyre plants in Sri Lanka and the first to produce radial agriculture tyres in the country.
Continue Reading![Michelin launches BIB Action 2020 employee share ownership plan](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/michelin-sign-logo-sml.jpg)
Michelin launches BIB Action 2020 employee share ownership plan
Michelin has introduced an employee share ownership plan. Bib Action, as the plan is known, gives Michelin group employees the opportunity to subscribe to a rights issue reserved for them under preferential terms - namely at a discount. Michelin’s managing chairman decided to carry out the rights issue in order to “more deeply involve employees in the group’s growth and development through a dynamic relationship built on mutual commitments”. The subscription period for the five-year minimum ownership share scheme will run from 16 September to 1 October 2020. The rights issue was authorized by the Annual Shareholders Meeting of 23 June 2020 in the 22nd resolution.
Continue Reading![Liqui Moly becomes official partner of the Handball Champions League](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TyDk8q9HDhy85Dk67K__1580208389_4416100.jpg)
Liqui Moly becomes official partner of the Handball Champions League
The title sponsor of the Liqui Moly Handball Bundesliga is expanding its commitment to handball for the coming season of the EHF (European Handball Federation) Champions League and is becoming an official partner. The Liqui Moly brand will be prominently displayed both on the hall floor and on the media walls.
Continue Reading![2020 Tire Society meeting goes virtual, theme: intelligent transportation](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Tire-Society.png)
2020 Tire Society meeting goes virtual, theme: intelligent transportation
The 39th Tire Society Conference on tyre science and technology, which runs from 28 September to 2 October, will be held entirely virtually for the first time this year, due to the Covid pandemic. However, it will still feature 27 original works of tyre technology presented by the authors and a special topic paper on the 40+ year history of the Tire Society as well as a keynote address, plenary address, invited lecture and panel discussion.
Continue Reading![Yokohama investing US$165 million in new India OTR tyre factory](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Dahej-2-002-sml.jpg)
Yokohama investing US$165 million in new India OTR tyre factory
The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd. is set to build a new plant at Atchutapuram Industrial Park, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India to expand ATG’s (Alliance Tire Group) tyre production capacity. The new plant will have a daily production capacity of 55 tons (rubber weight), with planned capital investment totalling US$165 million. Construction will start in the third quarter of 2020 and the new plant is scheduled to come on line in the first quarter of 2023.
Continue Reading![Sentury Tire joins the Shenzen Stock Exchange](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Sentury-IPO.png)
Sentury Tire joins the Shenzen Stock Exchange
Having received approval back in June, Qingdao Sentury Tire has successfully completed its Initial Public Offering (IPO) and is now listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (China) as of 11 September 2020. 11 per cent of the companys shares were valued at 1.31 billion yuan (162 million euros; £149.859 million) by investors, resulting in a theoretical total valuation of 1.47 billion euros. The offered shares offered were oversubscribed 2887 times over. But what is the company planning to do with its newly-raised funds?
Continue Reading![Nexen publishes first sustainability report](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/★-Nexen-Tire-Releases-First-Sustainability-Report.jpg)
Nexen publishes first sustainability report
Nexen Tire has published its first sustainability report, which outlines the company’s sustainable practices and environmental, social, and economic performance in 2019. Nexen Tire’s 2019/20 Sustainability Report is based on standards of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), and has been verified by the Korea Management Registrar (KMR), a third-party assurance institution.
Continue Reading![Michelin and Pirelli lead in rubber sustainability – Context Group](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/CG-Sust.jpg)
Michelin and Pirelli lead in rubber sustainability – Context Group
Michelin and Pirelli are leading the way on tyre and rubber sustainability, according to a recent report from Context Group. Context’s ranking assessed 11 members of the Tire Industry Project (TIP), namely Bridgestone; Continental; Cooper; Goodyear; Hankook; Kumho; Michelin; Pirelli; Sumitomo Rubber; Toyo and Yokohama. Context analysed the sustainability content on each company’s website to see if it included communications covering some of the main issues associated with the life cycle impacts of tyres, including the four focus areas of the TIP: tyre and road wear particles, sustainable natural rubber, end-of-life tyres and environmental performance. The researchers assessed how well the companies tell their sustainability story by looking at their use of multimedia, news articles and social media.
Continue Reading![GRI launches new website](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Wesite-Device-Screens-LR-scaled.jpg)
GRI launches new website
GRI has upgraded its website (www.gritires.com). Now, according to the company, it features “streamlined navigation and recognizes the farmers, construction workers and forklift operators who move the world.”
Continue Reading![Hankook is transforming itself into a system provider with the help of Reifen Müller](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Hankook-Alphatread-2_tb.jpg)
Hankook is transforming itself into a system provider with the help of Reifen Müller
Over the past seven years, Hankook has firmly established its range of hot retreaded Alphatread tyres in many European markets. What began in Great Britain as part of a joint venture partnership is now being given a new boost in Central Europe. With the takeover of Reifen Müller in 2018, Hankook is now also the operator of its own retreading operation, which is being gradually expanded into a fully-fledged Hankook factory retreading factory - something colleagues at our German sister publication Neue Reifenzeitung found out. Now that Hankook is also manufacturing Alphatread tyres for Germany and neighbouring markets, the medium term is about much more than just a new product range: Hankook wants to redefine its position as a service provider on the commercial vehicle tyre market and establish itself as a system supplier. Customers in other European markets should also benefit from this. This article appears in full in the September edition of Tyres & Accessories Retreading Special supplement. Subscribers can read the supplement online here. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
Continue Reading![Tym International ceases trading, RH Claydon takes over Triangle OTR and truck tyre distribution](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/tym-logo.png)
Tym International ceases trading, RH Claydon takes over Triangle OTR and truck tyre distribution
Tym International will cease trading from 30 October 2020, effectively winding up the tyre import and wholesale business specialising in Far Eastern-produced and OTR tyres. Writing in a letter dated 8 September, managing director Steve Eke explained “the decision to cease has been forced upon the company by others that control the majority of the shares in the business”. Tyres & Accessories understands that the combination of recent business pressures caused by EU anti-dumping truck tyre tariffs and then coronavirus caused major shareholders to withdraw their investment.
Continue Reading![Research reveals ‘vital information’ relating to tyre particles…](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/car-932455-scaled.jpg)
Research reveals ‘vital information’ relating to tyre particles…
The University of Plymouth published government-funded research into what happens to particles released from vehicle tyres back in May. This comparatively recent report – as far as academic research is concerned – was launched with no-small media fanfare amid claims that tyres “could be a significant and previously largely unrecorded source of microplastics in the marine environment”. Be that as it may, the research also highlighted a number of significant knowledge gaps in this field of research.
Continue Reading![Laufenn launch makes Hankook more holistic commercial tyre supplier](https://www.tyrepress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/hankook-guy-paul.png)
Laufenn launch makes Hankook more holistic commercial tyre supplier
The launch of the second-line Laufenn brand onto the European commercial vehicle tyre market has rounded out Hankook’s offer to fleet customers. Offering a second tier brand – alongside a growing retreading programme via its Alphatread range – can both allow the manufacturer a more extensive product range to cater to each customer’s entire fleet, and also allow Hankook to capitalise on the growing interest in more value-oriented products. The new tyres, which give Laufenn itself impressive market coverage, also help to emphasise one of Hankook’s competitive advantages; the proportion of products under three years old in its TBR portfolio. The timing of the launch could also help to address the economic strife felt by the logistics sector in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. Featured in the September issue of Tyres & Accessories, we spoke with Guy Heywood, Hankook’s European marketing and strategy director for its truck and bus business, and UK sales director Paul Emery about how the introduction of Laufenn will help to develop the tyre manufacturer’s commercial business in the UK and Europe. This article will appear in full in the September edition of Tyres & Accessories. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
Continue Reading