Agricultural
Titan International, Inc. has reported record turnover and profitability during the 2022 financial year. While the US-based manufacturer of OTR tyres and wheels increased its net sales by 21.9% to US$2.2 billion, income from operations jumped by more than 141% to $205.8, almost doubling the return on sales to 9.5%.
Ceat Specialty has appointed Peter James Cawson to lead the company’s growing business in the UK and Ireland. The new Business Development Specialist brings with him 16 years of tyre industry experience, most recently at Michelin, where he served as a territory business manager.
Continental has launched its largest tractor tyre to date, the VF TractorMaster in size VF900/60R42. With a diameter of 214.7 centimetres, the tyre is larger than a door frame and weighs 450 kilogrammes. It has a load index of 189 (10,300 kilogrammes). Continental has developed the tyre size specifically to carry the weight of agricultural machinery producing more than 300 horsepower.
Off-highway tyre specialist BKT has quantified its growth ambitions, and the figures are ambitious. Tyrepress reported yesterday that the manufacturer’s capacity across all manufacturing facilities will reach 360,000 tonnes later in 2023. But BKT has big plans for its “most strategic plant” in Bhuj and has announced its goal of harnessing this facility to achieve annual tyre production of 600,000 tonnes in 3 years. It also intends for turnover of US$2 billion a year by the end of this period.
Late in 2021, BKT announced operations would continue at its 1988-inaugurated Waluj factory following the commissioning of a plant originally intended to replace it. A year down the track and BKT reverted to its initial plan and is now redirecting the capital expenditure of Rs 3.5 billion (£35.2 million; US$42.4 million) previously approved for modernising the old plant to the newer Waluj facility to “bring in economies of scale.”
Trelleborg TM900 High Power is the tyre of choice for the Magnum Black limited-edition tractor which Case IH created to celebrate 20 years of the line’s production in Brazil. The agricultural equipment manufacturer launched the tractor this week during the Show Rural agricultural exhibition in Brazil. Magnum Black wears TM900 High Power tyres in 600/70R30 at the front and 800/70R38 at the rear.
Five new dimensions have joined the GRI agricultural tyre portfolio. Farmers in the UK and elsewhere will soon have an additional four Green EX RT100 sizes to choose from and one further Green EX FL800 size.
Tatneft, the firm seeking to acquire the Nokian Tyres operation in Russia, has purchased Uzbekhistan’s only tyre maker, Birinchi rezinotexnika zavodi. Former majority owner Uzkimyosanoat JSC reports that Tatneft paid US$80 million for a 100% shareholding in the tyre maker. Tatneft also takes over credit obligations and debts equal to $153 million.
Yokohama Off-Highway Tires has added two sizes to its Alliance Agri Star II range. The introduction of 800/70R38 and 210/95R18 tyres brings the total number of SKUs in this range to 89.
A positive first half of 2022 gave way to an increasingly bleak picture for replacement tyre sales according to overall figures published today by European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) members. Overall this meant replacement consumer tyre sales were 2 per cent down on 2021. Commercial replacement tyre sales remained largely flat, except for the agricultural tyre market, which was down more than a fifth (-22 per cent), having been in contraction all year. Quarter four saw double-digit percentage falls versus the fourth quarter of 2021 as the effects of war in Ukraine, including spiralling energy prices and a continental cost of living crisis, bit. The European replacement tyre segment’s first half of the year had been relatively buoyant, with double-digit growth in replacement truck and bus tyres the highlight.
The revamped BKT website is now live, and the off-highway tyre specialist wants us to know that it features some bells and more than a few whistles. Following an “in-depth restyling and redesign of the browsing experience,” BKT’s new online home at bkt-tires.com delivers a “comfortable and user-friendly environment for users” that offers “no lack of exclusive content, first-hand accounts and constantly updated information.”
Reflecting on the year that was 2022, GRI’s Dr Mahesha Ranasoma comments that the company “made significant strides in building its GreenLeadership credentials” during the year. The chief executive officer adds that the off-highway tyre specialist “weathered the storms and the impact of the global economic downturn” during 2022, continuing to “remain resilient throughout the year.”
BKT wants us to know that it is “ready” for electric mobility in the off-highway segment, and is denoting products it has tailored for such vehicles with a new E-Ready sidewall logo. E-Ready made its debut at last November’s SIMA exhibition in Paris on the Agrimaxfactor 70 series tractor tyre range, and BKT plans to gradually extend its use to all products in this category.
The NEC in Birmingham opened its doors to the well-known LAMMA agricultural equipment exhibition this morning (10 January 2023). Normally queuing round the large exhibition centre’s internal road system is a bit of a bind, but this year it was a harbinger of good news for exhibitors that have, in general, fought for visitor numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels – footfall appears to be very healthy.
The LAMMA 2023 agricultural show begins today at the NEC in Birmingham, and in addition to housing over 600 exhibitors and welcoming an anticipated 40,000 or more visitors, the exhibition is also the first stop for ‘Agritechnica on Tour 2023.’ The Agritechnica team will be present during LAMMA at stand 6.400 in hall 6, offering not only first-hand information on how to visit the world’s leading agricultural machinery trade fair in Hannover, Germany, but also advice on how to exhibit.
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