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Motorcycle tyres for the Moto GP are already running on C3M built tyres. The technology is said to give engineers better control over tyre manufacture.
Michelin claim that Valentino Rossi laps a half-second faster on a C3M-built tyre compared to a traditionally built tyre using the same materials.
The price of rubber in Thailand has risen to a record high of 50 Baht per kilo (1.07 Euro), which is good news for growers and not so god for producers of products such as tyres. Last year Thailand exported 2.35 million tonnes of rubber to 60 countries, with China and Japan each taking just under half a million tonnes. This year China is expected to be the largest customer, taking around 550,000 tonnes, valued at 30 billion Baht (642.6 million Euro).
The total number of car tyres sold in Poland in the first nine months was a record 5.4 million, or eight per cent higher than the same period last year. Sales of tyres H-rated and above grew by 21 per cent, and off-road vehicle tyre sales were up 54 per cent. The biggest sector – budget tyres – saw sales rise two per cent and winter tyre sales were up 13 per cent. Analysts expect the figures to have positive effects on the share prices of the two tyre companies on the Warsaw Stock Exchange; Stomil Olsztyn and Debica, which has a market share of over 50 per cent. Also, as exports account for the majority of their turnover, the two companies will benefit further from the strong Euro.
According to JD Power’s recent survey of North American buyers, whilst the Internet has become a regular shopping tool for nearly two-thirds of new-vehicle buyers, few vehicle owners use the Internet when it comes time to buy replacement tyres. The study finds that more than 60 percent of tire buyers access the Internet, but only 16 percent of those who access the Internet use it when they need to buy replacement tires. “The desire to discuss their needs with a tire salesperson and their intentions to buy from the same retailer are key reasons tire buyers do not use the Internet as a tire shopping tool today,” said Jeff Zupancic, director of the tire practice at J.D. Power and Associates. Of course, since the JD Power survey relates to new car owners it only touches on that fraction of the market. The larger, used car sector may make a different use of the Internet for tyre purchases.
T&A has looked at the waste tyre issue several times recently. In fact retreading and recycling is hardly ever missed from the magazine. Our focus has largely been on the legislation, the collection, the mass disposal of tyres and the issues surrounding the problem. There is nothing to say that those issues will go away any day soon. Some of the solutions being wholeheartedly supported at present are not universally popular, and may themselves in time become problems. Most solutions only extend the life of a tyre, or its constituent parts, ultimately the waste will either be burned or buried. The key to winning ground in this battle is to extend the life of the product before it is disposed of. Some say, closing the loop.
If you try asking a granulating company what their products get used for, they will usually admit to Equestrian surfaces, or sports surfaces, but little else. Yet we are told that rubber crumb has a multitude of uses, but what are they?
The article in October’s issue looks at some of the wider uses for waste tyres, serious and not so serious.
An increase in the number of cars with old tyres identified at recent police roadside tyre checks has led the Tyre Industry Council to issue a warning to motorists of the potential dangers of running a car or van on over age tyres.
TIC tyre experts at roadside tyre checks in Hertfordshire and Wiltshire identified a number of vehicles with tyres between 10 and 12 years old and one car with tyres that were 15 years old.
Whilst this is not illegal, says the TIC, there are certain circumstances where the `ageing’ process can render a tyre unserviceable even if it is unused.
As the components within the tyre dry out with age, they can separate, causing the tyre to distort and vibrate and potentially the tyre could fail and deflate.
Motorists are able to check the age of a tyre by examining the date code on the sidewall of the tyre. If it is 10 years old or over the TIC strongly recommends that it be replaced.
The TIC that although tyre manufacturers add anti-ageing chemicals to compounds they are only active when the tyre is in use; therefore tyres fitted to spare wheels, caravans and trailers are particularly at risk of premature ageing bought on by ozone degradation and static `sitting’ for lengthy periods. Hence if an unused tyre reaches six years old it should not be placed into service.
We hear a lot today about the demise of the retread industry, especially the car tyre sector, and a lot of tyre dealers have stopped stocking retreads, preferring instead to carry cheap new tyres.
Against this background, it is refreshing to learn of an independent tyre dealer who is not only still stocking retreads, but actively selling them. The company in question is Durham-based retailer and wholesaler Tyrespot, which stocks tyres from nearby manufacturer C-Tyres, and Managing Director John Shaw says that he has seen retread sales rise over the last two years and he expects to increase sales by a further ten per cent this year.
He explains: “We have never changed our policy towards retreads. Our experience has shown that if we stock them, we will sell them. This year we expect to sell more than 20,000 retreaded tyres through our retail and wholesale business, proving that it has been well worthwhile sticking with the product.”
John Shaw points out that much of Tyrespot’s growth has been achieved in market niches, emphasising the opportunities open to dealers willing to target and work at these markets. He says: “Although sales of 80 series retreads have stagnated, we have seen substantial growth in sales of retreads for 4×4 vehicles as well as increased demand for 65, 55 and 50 series tyres. It is clear that there is a large potential market for the sale of retreaded tyres to younger drivers who want to make sure that they are legal and who see the economic benefits offered by retreads. In addition, we are looking closely at the opportunities presented by retreads within the winter tyre market. As a result, we are well on the way to a record year of retread sales.”
Bridgestone Corporation has announced that it will increase production capacity of truck and bus radials at three plants in Japan, and will double the planned capacity at a plant currently under construction in Thailand. The reason is to cater for continuing growth in global demand for truck and bus tyres.
Production at the three Japanese plants at Amagi, Tochigi and Tokyo will increase to 1,300 tyres per day, thanks to an investment of two billion Yen (US$16.86 million), with expansion work expected to be complete by the end of 2004.
In Thailand, subsidiary company Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co. Ltd., has doubled the capacity originally planned for the plant it is building in Chonburi. Construction work began in February this year and the plant will begin production in the second half of 2004, with a daily production of 2,500 tyres. The latest expansion plans will see this increase to 5,000 tyres a day by the end of 2006, and they will cost seven billion Yen ($59 m), bringing the total investment in Chonburi to 24 billion Yen ($202.3 m).
These projects are part of Bridgestone’s on-going, global plans for expanding production capacity in radials for trucks, buses and passenger cars. Car tyre investment will address the shift in demand towards larger sizes and high-performance tyres in the mature markets of North America, Europe and Japan. At the same time, it will cater for growing demand for standard tyres in Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The Bridgestone group has earmarked around 90 billion Yen for its capital spending programmes by the end of 2006.
Shares in Singapore-based Stamford Tyres rose by over 13 per cent on news that the company’s net profit had risen from S$ 2.75 million (1.39 m Euros) last year to S$ 8.18 million (4.12 m Euros) for the latest fiscal year. This comes at a time when the Singaporean economy shrank by 11.8 per cent in the second quarter, as tourism was hit by the SARS virus and the war against Iraq led to a decrease in production, said the Government.
South Africa has an estimated stockpile of 800 million waste tyres; a considerable achievement for a country that produces only 12 million tyres per annum. Currently most of these tyres are either burned, or retreaded. The former releasing styrene and butadiene, both known human carcinogens, into the atmosphere along with thick black smoke and other chemicals. The South African government recognises that this is not a satisfactory response to the growing problem and is intending to make it mandatory that tyre manufacturers recycle their rubber products. The recycling initiative is estimated to be about to create some 800 jobs in recycling and collection. With only one recycling plant in the country there is a shortage of recycling facilities and the government is in discussions with various companies with a view to establishing further recycling plants. One of the key end products is the use of tyre rubber in asphalt. One of the problems for any investor in recycling in South Africa is the lower volumes experienced in the business compared to Europe or the USA. These lower volumes push up costs and make the already marginal operations less cost effective still. The government’s aim is to drive the tyre manufacturers to provide the recycling facilities, one way or another, and to ensure proper disposal of their products. The government will impose a one per cent tariff on the sale of every tyre, this will be used to fund the collection and disposal through The South African Tyre Recycling Process Company, a non-profit organisation that will collect waste tyres and deliver them to recycling points.
Dunlop Tyres Australia has signed a two-year exclusive contract to supply vehicles in the ‘V8 BRutes’ racing series. Founded two years ago, the series – which features pick-ups like the Ford Falcon XR8 or Holden Commodore SS in racing trim – has become more and more popular in Australia. From now on, competitiors will use 245/40 ZR 17 sized Dunlop SP Super Sport Race tyres. Made at the German Dunlop plant in Hanau, the SP Super Sport, which is available in nine sizes in 17″ and 18″ can be used as a road tyre, but only under dry conditions and by extreme sport oriented drivers.
The Goodyear plant at Fulda, Germany, set a production record of exactly 7,141,095 units in 2002. The plant, which employs 1,648 staff, manufactures high, ultra high, offroad, light truck, truck and agricultural tyres carrying the Fulda name, as well as tyres for other brands from the Goodyear group.
Michelin’s Energy range of tyres was named “Eco Product Of The Year” at the Fleet Excellence Awards, held in London in January. The tyres polled over 25 per cent of the votes in the category, with votes coming from readers of EcoFleet, Fleet Week and Fleet Management magazines.
Sarawak’s Natural Resources and Environment Board claims that there is no market for the recycled products from the scrap tyres and that retreading was not economically viable. Crumb rubber which can be used for many purposes has a market value of only 75 per cent of its production cost. Sarawak, has no system developed or legislation formulated to promote and regulate scrap tyre disposal and recycling issues. Malaysia produces about 14 million pieces of used tyres per year and the number is increasing at a rate of 10 to 15 percent.
The Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON) has recently destroyed large amounts of sub-standard goods in a move designed to emphasis the need to improve the quality of goods traded in Nigeria. The latest batch of goods to be destroyed included second-hand tyres imported and sold by Sanusi Gbenga Tyres Enterprises. According to a spokesman for SON the tyres which were branded Dunlop, Michelin, Continental and Kleber were full of flaws, cracks, blisters, and foreign materials. These, according to him, are unreliable and potential death-traps.
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