BRMA Director Treks for Charity
The Director of British Rubber Manufacturers’ Association, John Dorken, will be undertaking a sponsored trek in support of the children of Chechnya in August. John is the Treasurer and Secretary of Medical Aid and Relief for the Children of Chechnya (MARCCH). MARCCH is a registered charity set up in 2001 to help the young victims of the long running conflict in Chechnya. Money is needed to meet the refurbishment and running costs of the orphanage as well as expanding activities into medical assistance. In 2002 John and his daughter, Marina undertook a similar trek in the Himalayas, walking above the Tibetan monasteries in Sikkim to the base of the world’s third highest mountain, Kanchenjunga, and for their efforts received close to £9000. This year John will be warming up on the most famous trek in the Andes – the Inca trail - and then embarking on further trek around the highest mountain in South East Peru – Ausangate – described as ‘high, tough and cold’, taking him up to 5165 metres (nearly 17000 feet). Last time it was pretty challenging and this time will be no easier – and he will be three years further from the prime of youth! For details of how to contribute go to the website www.marcch.org or telephone: 020 8883 8899.
Continue ReadingHazardous Waste Awareness Levels Low
Only one in five motor vehicle service and repair garages are aware of the hazardous waste regulations due to come into place in coming weeks, according to new figures revealed today by the Environment Agency. The findings, which are the result of a survey of more than 1000 small and medium sized businesses in England and Wales found that only 17 per cent of garages interviewed knew about the new regulations which will take effect from 16 July 2005.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Sells Resins Business
(Akron/Tire Review) Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co has agreed to sell its Wingtack adhesives resins business to Sartomer Company Inc, a unit of the French energy firm Total SA, for a reported $65 million. The sale includes a production facility in Beaumont, Texas, adjacent to Goodyear’s synthetic rubber plant there. Goodyear said it will continue to supply raw materials to the adhesives resins plant. The adhesives resins business, with 115 employees, produces Wingtack brand hydrocarbon resins, which are used in pressure-sensitive and hot melt applications.
Continue ReadingKumho Plans R&D/HQ Centre in Tianjin
(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Tire Co said it is investing some $20 million to establish a research and development centre in Tianjin, China, a facility that will evolve into the company’s Tianjin Kumho Tire Co Ltd headquarters. The research and development facility will employ some 300 scientists and engineers, said Kumho. Tianjin Kumho Tire Co’s new $185 million radial passenger tyre plant is set to begin production in July 2006 with an initial capacity of 5.25 million tyres per year. Plans have already been made for a $130 million expansion there that will bring capacity to 10.4 million units per year. The tyre plant will service Chinese automakers.
Continue ReadingSEAT Chooses Beissbarth
Beissbarth’s wheel aligner technology has been chosen by SEAT to see it through a busy international race season. The SEAT Sport UK team has selected the ML8R Microline Easy Wheel Aligner to ensure the chassis set-up is optimised for each race. Speaking for the SEAT team, Grant Clearwater said: Its important for SEAT Sport UK to be able to rely on the equipment that we use to deliver accurate information every time, this is one of the many reasons why we haven chosen Beissbarth.
Continue ReadingAA Calls For Government Tread Depth Review
The AA Motoring Trust and County Surveyors’ Society (CSS) has called for the government to lead a review of the 1.6 millimetre tread depth limit. The call comes in response to “research evidence from real crashes,” says the report. At the same time the report called for greater investment from local authorities in road surface renewal.
Continue ReadingScientists Warn of Tiger Mosquito Threat
A combination of warmer weather and imported used tyres has led scientists to issue a warning about a possible threat from the Asian Tiger mosquito. The mosquito, which as its name suggests is native to Asia, usually lays its eggs in small pools of water, such as banana leaves or coconut shells. However, any small pool will do and eggs have been found in the water in tyres being imported into France, Italy, Spain and Switzerland. In fact, in France, all imported tyres are sprayed with insecticide as a matter of course. As little as a quarter of an inch of water is sufficient for the Tiger to lay its eggs.
Continue ReadingKwik-Fit Goes to PAI for £800 million
CVC Capital Partners has sold Kwik-Fit to French private equity firm PAI for £800 million. The news follows months of speculation including suggestions that a Bridgestone/Mitsubishi joint venture was pulling out in front when it came to bidding for the UK’s largest fast-fit chain. Bloomberg reports that PAI plans to open more fast fit retail outlets as a result of the acquisition.
Continue ReadingMosely: Michelin Should Compensate Fans
FIA president Max Mosely has given his opinions about what happened at the recent US grand prix. Amongst other things, Mr Mosely called on Michelin to “compensate fans on a fair basis,” and give away free tickets to next year’s event. The news is set against a back drop of other F1 dealings including, BMW’s shock purchase of the Sauber team, which will become effective from 1 January 2006.
Continue ReadingSapphire Energy Recovery Confirm Tim Stott as General Manager
After 16 years working with Sapphire Energy Recovery and Lafarge Cement, Tim Stott (35) has become general manager of the tyre disposal specialists. Previously Mr Stott had been finance manager and then acting general manager. Now, following Jamie Randall’s promotion to alternative resource manager with Lafarge UK, Tim Stott will take over the day-to-day running of the company on a permanent basis. “This is a great opportunity to build on what the business has already achieved,” commented the new general manager.
Continue ReadingAlcoa Restructures Passenger Car Rim Business
Alcoa is planning to develop a range of forged aluminium passenger car rims, which will be produced alongside the company’s forged truck products. The wheels will be produced at Alcoa’s Samara, Russia, plant and will also be made available for sale in the European market. At the same time the company is set to embark on a restructuring programme designed to improve efficiency, shedding five per cent of its total international workforce. This means up to 800 jobs in the company’s wheel business could be lost. The wheel restructuring programme is expected to cost the company between $65 and $70 million – roughly half of this will be down to severance costs. Alcoa acquired the casted wheel business as part of the large purchase of competitor Reynolds in 1999. This acquisition saw the company take over factories in Italy (Ferrara), Venezuela and North America. However, Alcoa never really seemed happy with its casted aluminium passenger car rim strategy.
Continue ReadingUnder Inflated Tyres Cost UK Motorists £1 Billion
Avon Tyres believes motorists are wasting more than £1 billion a year and increasing the risk of accidents by not checking tyre pressures. According to the manufacuturer’s calculations, up to 90 per cent of vehicles on Britain’s roads do not have the correct pressure in their tyres. This, in turn, is believed to have a knock effect that stings consumers to the tune of an extra £230 million on new tyres every year. Researchers said that at any one time, 90 per cent of vehicles had at least one tyre under-inflated by 10 per cent of the recommended pressure. This equates to a 15 per cent reduction in the life expectancy of the tyre or an extra £5.12 per year cost to the driver - or £230 million if extended to all UK drivers.
Continue ReadingMichelin Sues Dynamic Over Look-Alike Tyre
(Akron/Tire Review) Michelin North America (MNA) has filed a suit in the federal court of Birmingham, Alabama, against Canadian distributor Dynamic Tire and Chinese manufacturer, Aeolus Tyre, claiming tyre design patent infringement. Robert Sherkin, president of both Dynamic Tire Corp and Aeolus Tire in North America was also named in the action. “We will not tolerate look-alike tyres trading on Michelin expertise and will bring the full resources of Michelin North America to bear on those seeking to profit from our innovations,” said Luc Minguet, COO of MNA’s Michelin Americas Truck Tyres unit. MNA claims that the tread design of the Aeolus HN-308 medium truck tyre is identical to its patented design for the Michelin XDA-HT.
Continue ReadingMichelin To Close French Truck Tyre Plant
Michelin is preparing to close a small truck tyre plant in France, Deutsche Bank analysts have reported. According to the analysts, the company will close its Poitiers plant (which employs some 500 people) and transfer truck tyre production to Tours. The larger Tours plant has 2000 employees. ”Since we expect 30 per cent of the group’s Western European workforce (or 17,000 people) to be retired by the next five years, this will underline a significant reorganisation of the groups industrial organisation, involving their 31 European plants,” the analysts commented. 26 of Michelin’s European plants can be found in Western Europe, while the remaining five are in Central Europe.
Continue ReadingRoesler/USW Reach Stalemate Over Bryan OTR Plant
If you ask the USW in Bryan, Ohio, whether or not Roesler are going to buy Continental’s OTR tyre plant, they will say no. Ask Roesler management and it’s a completely different answer. This week local representatives of the USW published a statement saying that the proposed plan to sell the CTNA plant to the German Roesler Group was off because the two sides had failed to agree on a satisfactory labour agreement. “We went the extra mile in trying to reach a new contract agreement,” said John Bowling, the USW/Continental Tire Unit chairman. “We just couldnt get a deal.”
Continue Reading
