US Tariffs an Opportunity for Asian Manufacturers
Although the US decision to charge tariffs on consumer tyres produced in China has presented the country’s manufacturers and importers of the product with a sizeable hurdle to their business, the Kasikorn Research Center, a subsidiary of Thailand’s Kasikornbank, believes the decision presents Thai exporters with a major opportunity to increase their market share.
Continue ReadingSmuggling, Under-Invoicing Hurting Pakistan’s Tyre Makers
More than six million tyres are purchased in Pakistan each year, but even though local manufacturers are only capable of producing 2.5 million units annually, they are operating at under capacity. The reason for this, believes the head of one domestic producer, is the prevalence of smuggled and under-invoiced foreign brands.
Continue ReadingJK Tyre to Increase Exports to Central, South America
JK Tyre and Industries is aiming to substantially increase exports from Tornel, the Mexican company it acquired last year. According to the Press Trust of India the company aims to do this within a year through further expand within the Central and South American markets.
Continue ReadingCredit Crunch Takes a Bite Out of the Russian Bear
Pierre Cohade, president of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s Asia-Pacific business, recently asked if we should move away from talking about BRIC countries (the emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India and China) and instead focus on BIIC. Posting this poser on the popular Twitter social network (follow twitter.com/tyrepress for regular tyre industry updates) from his base in Shanghai, Cohade questioned whether Russia’s position as leading light in the global economy should be replaced with Indonesia which, in his words “continues its spectacular improvements.” He’s got a point.
Continue ReadingEU-Korea Free Trade Agreement Will Aid Tyre Sales
On 15 October EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon initialled a free trade agreement (FTA), which the EU calls “the most important ever negotiated between the European Union and a third country.” Estimated to be worth a total of 19 billion euros in new trade for EU exporters, the agreement is designed to remove virtually all tariffs between the two economies. However, it is a bilateral deal. And European carmakers, apparently fearful of being swamped by imports of more economically priced Korean cars in an already depressed market, were the first to call for a rethink through industry body ACEA. However this appears to have been too little too late and according to the commission, the initialling signals the end of negotiations. The current “stable legal text” will be formally presented to EU Member States in early 2010. So what does this mean for the European tyre (and associated product) markets?
Continue ReadingTire Rack Tests Yokohama’s Orange Oil Tyre in 'Real World Ride'
Yokohama Tire Corporation's (YTC) eco-friendly dB Super E-specT tyre, which is made of 80 per cent non-petrol products, scored well in a recent low rolling resistance test conducted by US retailer Tire Rack. "The Tire Rack test shows that the dB Super E-spec, which introduces new technology in tyre materials and design, is noticeably better on all-around performance," said Mark Chung, YTC director, corporate strategy and planning. "Compared to standard tyres on a Prius, both the fuel efficiency and handling are improved, and compared with other conventional tyres that offer enhanced fuel efficiency, the dB Super E-Spec excels in driving performance.”
Continue ReadingTGI Opens Houston Office
Tire Group International (TGI) has opened a new sales office in Houston, Texas headed by Tom Wilbur. Wilbur comes to TGI with over 12 years experience in the tyre industry, having worked for firms such as Area Wholesale Tire and Tire Dealers Warehouse.
Continue ReadingRussian Tyre Imports Crash 8.6% in 1H 2009
With the Russian economy fairing worst that most at the moment, the tyre business in this part of the world has taken a similarly significant hit, with both imports and exports falling heavily in the first half of 2009. Tyre manufacturers appear to have been offering significant discounts (or exporting lower value items) in the first half of 2009 with unit export figures falling far slower than export values. Data compiled by the Russian Discovery Research Group shows exports totalled 3,259,440 units in the first half of 2009, down 8.6 per cent from 3,566,469 units in the first half of 2008. Meanwhile, passenger-car tyre exports fell 7.1 per cent in the period, with truck tyre exports down 14.9 per cent. Exports of light truck tyres countered the trend, growing 40 per cent.
Continue ReadingAlliance Tire Buys GPX Assets
Just a day after GPX International Tire Corporation (GPX) filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Israel-based Alliance Tire Group announced it has signed an agreement to purchase certain assets for a reported $38.3 million. According to Alliance, the deal includes: “GPX’s US operations, customer relationships, warehouse footprint, worldwide rights to the Galaxy and Primex brands, the company’s medium radial truck tyre distribution business and the Company’s South African entity, GPX Tyre South Africa (Pty.).” According to GPX the purpose of entering chapter 11 was “to separate the company’s operations into three distinct businesses in order to facilitate the sales of those businesses in transactions, which will allow 95 per cent of the company’s current North American workforce to remain employed.” Crucially, the statement points out that “the company will wind down its European operations.” GPX also explained that it has buyers lined to purchase various parts of the business.
Continue ReadingHankook Evaluates Southeast Asian Sites for New Plant
Hankook Tire intends to build a new factory – its sixth overseas plant – somewhere in Southeast Asia. South Korea’s Yonhap news reports company CEO Suh Seung-hwa as stating on October 23 that Hankook may spend between US$250 million and $300 million building the new facility, which is expected to have an annual capacity of ten million units.
Continue ReadingConti Sime Opens BestDrive Continental Car Centre in East Malaysia
On 18 October Bintang Ramai Sdn. Bhd., in partnership with Continental Sime Tyre Sdn. Bhd. (CST) opened the first BestDrive passenger car and Light Truck (PLT) centre in East Malaysia. The new branch is the 16th BestDrive in Malaysia, but the first in Eastern Malaysia. According to Benoit Henry, CEO of CST, the BestDrive PLT centre empowers the company’s partners with the opportunity to use its brand to position themselves as uniform, specialised tyre dealers catering for the premium customer segment. CST aims to offer expertise and advice for the setup of a premium BestDrive shop concept, shop layout and customer-friendly tyre-changing and car-service environment.
Continue ReadingAufine Presents an Extended Truck Tyre Range
Ever since the Aufine Group owned factory in Dongying, Shandong Province entered operation in 1986, it has specialised in truck tyres. Nevertheless, the company has considered broadening its range. As general manager David Sun explained during the CITExpo exhibition, Aufine – whose name was chosen due to its phonic similarity to the words “all fine” – has recently mulled over the idea of a passenger car tyre factory. According to Sun, Aufine calculates an RMB 700 million investment (£63.6 million) is required to establish a planned factory capable of producing five million passenger car tyres per year. These plans, admittedly, have been laid on ice indefinitely due to the global recession. If and when the Aufine Group finally presses ahead is a decision heavily dependent upon the future development of global markets, not least the US market. Should the decision be made to press ahead with the new factory, the company’s aim is to produce “high quality tyres in China,” David Sun emphasises.
Continue ReadingJAXQuickfit Tyres Opens New Pymble, Sydney Store
In Australia, JAXQuickfit Tyres has opened a new store at Pymble, completing a triangle of premium tyre locations on Sydney's north shore. JAXQuickfit Pymble joins the stores at Artarmon and Thornleigh in offering customers an extensive range of tyres and wheels, together with steering, brake and suspension servicing. “In an extremely competitive market environment, JAXQuickfit has always had a very loyal and strong customer base on Sydney's north shore, so we're delighted to be able to offer them another convenient store location,” CEO Jeff Board said.
Continue ReadingNizhnekamskshina to Commission 1.2 million Tyre All-Steel Radial Plant
Russian petrochemicals group OAO Tatneft (Kama and Niznekamshina’s parent company) said it is set to expand its tyre manufacturing capacity with the commissioning of a 1.2 million tyres a year all-steel truck and bus radial plant near its existing Niznekamshskina plant in Niznekamsk. The commissioning follows investment of around 17 billion rubles (£362 million; 388 million euros; US$578 million) in line with a plan first conceived in 2006. Increasing demand in this part of the Russian market is said to be behind the move, with Tatarstan truck manufacturer KamAZ Auto Manufacturer lined up as a customer. According to Tatneft such large-scale construction of a factory from scratch is “really unique in today's Russia” and is part of a strategic investment programme scheduled to continue until 2013 - providing for the “further increase of the Kama-Euro type tyre production.” According to a company statement, Tatneft has implemented major investment projects in this field during the past few years, such as organizing the production of Kama-Euro passenger cars and light truck tyres using Pirelli technology and the construction of a new rubber-mixing complex. The new plant, which Tatneft refers to as its “SSC Tire Factory” (SSS = Solid Steel Cord) reportedly allows the company to produce tyres which offer 8 per cent more weight capacity and “significantly reduce fuel consumption.” In addition, SSC tyres can reportedly be retreaded up to three times, thus extending potential life up to 500,000 kilometres, says Tatneft.
Continue ReadingGoodyear to Gain Compensation from Jamaica Subsidiary Liquidation
Goodyear Jamaica Ltd’s liquidator, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu in Jamaica, is to offer “interim distribution” compensation of $3.75 per share to existing shareholders “by the end of October or early November.” Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company is a leading shareholder and will reportedly receive over J$131 million (US$1.48 million) of the first payout. The liquidation process is expected to be completed by 2010.
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