Bridgestone laying off workers as agri tyre demand falls
According to news reports in the US, Bridgestone intends to lay off almost 70 people from its agricultural tyre factory in Des Moines, Iowa. Whotv.com writes that the 69 layoffs will be voluntary and are planned to counter declining industry-wide demand for agricultural tyres. Bridgestone will re-evaluate the layoffs at the end of the first quarter of 2015.
Continue ReadingATG inaugurates new tyre plant in India
The new, 54,000 ton per annum Alliance Tire Group factory in India’s Gujarat state is now in operation. The company reported the inauguration of its third facility (the others being Hadera, Israel and Tirunelveli, India) in the second half of December 2014, and said the US$150 million facility in Dahej will reach full capacity in early 2016. At this date it is expected to employ some 1,500 workers.
Continue ReadingKumho Tire exits debt programme
On 23 December, Kumho Tire emerged from the debt workout programme it was placed under at the start of 2010. More than 75 per cent of the company’s creditors, in terms of debt held, decided that Kumho Tire had reached the threshold for ‘graduating’ from the programme. The tyre maker’s debt ratio, which hit a high of 858 per cent in 2010, declined to 290 per cent during the first half of 2014. Its credit rating also improved from BBB- to BBB.
Continue ReadingApollo Tyres ‘pleased’ with final dismissal of Cooper case
The legal dispute between Apollo Tyres and Cooper Tire & Rubber has now ended following the final dismissal of litigation filled by Cooper Tire against Apollo.
Continue ReadingNexen wins US design awards
Nexen Tire’s Roadian HTX RH5 has won a US Good Design Award. The company’s N’FERA RU5 also won the Korean Good Design Awards and the firm’s N’blue Premium won the Korean Pin up Design Awards. The US Good Design Awards is an annual design awards programme organized by The Chicago Athenaeum Museum of Architecture and Design (Illinois) in cooperation with the European Center for Architecture, Art, Design and Urban Studies.
Continue ReadingUS reduces Chinese tyre countervailing duties
The US Department of Commerce has reduced preliminary countervailing duties on tyres manufactured in China, according to local news sources. The countervailing duties are in addition a 4-per cent import tariff. The Herald, which is distributed in Chester county area of South Carolina where Giti will soon break ground on its new tyre factory, reported that the commerce department has lowered Giti’s rate to 11.74 per cent from 17.69 per cent. At the same time the rate for most other Chinese-manufactured tyres dropped to 12.03 per cent from 15.69 per cent.
Continue ReadingMichelin acquires land for German plant expansion
The German town of Bad Kreuznach reports Michelin’s acquisition of a 70,000 square metre land plot alongside its facility there, an area that will be used to expand the plant. The land is part of the ‘Marshall Kaserne’ site, a former US Army barracks in the Rhineland-Palatinate that closed in 2001.
Continue ReadingUS state governor calls for Giti Tire tariff revision
In a letter sent 16 December, the Governor of South Carolina requested the US Department of Commerce re-evaluate the 17.69 per cent tariff that applies to all consumer tyres Giti Tire imports into the US from China. Governor Nikki Haley highlighted Giti Tire’s plans to build a plant in Chester Country, South Carolina, and stated that the tariff “inequitably affects Giti’s business.”
Continue ReadingTyre makers paying 25% more to help India’s rubber producers
A dozen tyre manufacturers in India have agreed to acquire domestically-sourced natural rubber at a price 25 per cent above that set in Bangkok. This arrangement was decided upon at a meeting on 18 December in the city of Thiruvananthapuram with Oommen Chandy, chief minister of India’s Kerala state. It was agreed that India’s Rubber Board will calculate the going price for rubber each day; this will be based on the international, Bangkok price, with an additional 20 per cent customs duty and five per cent purchase tax added to the international price. The chief minister’s office reports that the new pricing takes effect today and is valid until the end of March 2015.
Continue ReadingCMA recalls certain Bluestar brand truck tyres
In the US China Manufacturers Alliance, LLC (CMA) has announced that it is recalling certain Bluestar LQ225 size 8-14.5 low platform trailer tyres manufactured. According to a recall notice published by the US government authority responsible for such matters, NHTSA, the affected tyres were produced between 24 February 2013, and 9 August 2014.
Continue ReadingAeolus branded store opens in Greece
Greek Aeolus importer Maxim Kaltsidis Tyres S.A. open the first “Aeolus Service Partner Brand Store” in Thessaloniki, Greece recently. In a statement dated 12 December company representatives explained: “We are very proud to announce the first Aeolus PCR Tyres exclusive brand store in Greece. The new point of sale incorporates the fundamental values of the brand such as quality and performance, in a modern, contemporary, consumer-friendly environment!” says Maximos Kaltsidis, general manager.
Continue ReadingPirelli’s Tronchetti Provera: “In Russia we will continue to grow”
Football magnates such as Arsenal’s second-largest shareholder Alisher Usmanov and Chelsea’s Roman Abramovich may have lost nearly losing $809 million (£516 million) $450 million (£287 million) already with the collapse of the rouble, but Pirelli’s Marco Tronchetti Provera remains optimistic about the tyre maker’s chances in Russia.
Continue ReadingMichelin partners in Spanish wholesale joint venture
At around the same time that Michelin moved to acquire 100 per cent of German tyre wholesaler Ihle Baden-Baden, the company gained approval to enter the Spanish wholesale market. On 12 September 2014, the Spanish National Authority for Markets and Competition (Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia) gave its approval for Euromaster Automoción y Servicios, S.A.U. and Rodi Metro, S.L., which operates the 150+ Rodi Motor Services retail network in Spain, to form a new wholesaling operation to distribute car and light commercial vehicle tyres within the country. Rodi says the wholesale operation has been set up as a 50/50 partnership.
Continue ReadingIndia’s tyre makers meet government to talk rubber prices
Regional government ministers in India met with tyre makers on 18 December to discuss rubber prices. Chief minister of the state of Kerala, Oomen Chandy has chaired a meeting which proposed a minimum guaranteed price for rubber growers – a price of around Rs 125 to 130 (£1.25 to £1.30) per kilogramme was suggested. In recent times the price paid to Indian rubber growers has dipped as low as Rs 90 per kilogramme, a price considered unsustainable.
Continue ReadingLinglong Tire’s R&D, European factory plans – Wang Feng gives details
Speaking at the signing ceremony of Shandong Linglong Tire’s agreement with German football club VfL Wolfsburg, the tyre maker’s CEO spoke of the “first class exposure” and substantially increased brand awareness the partnership will bring. He also discussed Linglong Tire’s growth ambitions and the role Europe will play in achieving these.
Continue Reading