Agricultural
Financing is now available for UK purchasers of Michelin agricultural tyres through the company’s new ‘Flexelagri’ credit scheme. The tyre maker says qualifying UK farmers and contractors looking to purchase Michelin agricultural drive or trailer tyres, or the rims required for its Ultraflex technology, will be able to spread the cost over two years at a 0 per cent finance rate. No deposit is required, however a £100 administration fee applies.
When you think of Trelleborg you will probably think of industrial or agricultural tyres. You may think of rubber products in general. But would you associate the Swedish firm with the movies?
Trelleborg has launched a new 3D animated movie which is available on YouTube via its social media channel, TrelleborgAgri. The film, created using 3D animation techniques, tells the life story of a smart cartoon cricket that starts his own agricultural business and miniature farm. The story, which begins in 1955, follows the cricket ‘farmer’ through the ages, following his journey as he comes face-to-face with evolving tractor generations. From x-ply tires, through to upgraded tractors equipped with radial technology tires; the cricket must learn how to survive and work alongside these new technologies.
Heuver Tyrewholesale is well known for its distribution of the Aeolus brand in eight key European markets, however the wholesaler is active throughout most of Europe and also offers a number of competitive ranges for the countries where it doesn’t deal in Aeolus. This year, another brand has been added to this portfolio.
When it was published at the start of the year Tyres & Accessories' January 2013 edition kick-started the back-to-work season with special features on motorcycle tyres and agricultural tyres in addition to all the regular news and analysis you can expect. Subscribers can view this in e-paper format by simply clicking more.
According to Emmanuel Ladent, president of Michelin’s Agricultural Tyres global business unit, exhibitions like the Paris-based SIMA show give the tyre maker an opportunity to demonstrate its capacity for innovation. Speaking at SIMA, Ladent commented that “trade shows of this size serve as showcases that enable us to demonstrate the tangible solutions we develop for our customers, whether they are users, dealers or equipment manufacturers.”
Apollo Vredestein is launching two new product lines this week at one of Europe's largest agricultural exhibitions, SIMA 2013 in Paris. The company is displaying the new Vredestein Greentrax for lawn and ground care equipment and new Apollo tyres for industrial and construction machinery. The Greentrax range will be available from March 2013, while the new Apollo tyres will be introduced by the end of the month. This is a significant step for Apollo, since the new products represent the launch of the Apollo brand in the industrial sector in Europe.
Mitas has debuted its Super Flexion Tyre (SFT) at SIMA, the international agricultural exhibition, in Paris. Mitas SFT tyres are made for high-horsepower tractors (>180 hp). Mitas has been selling American-made SFT tyres in North America since summer 2012. The SFT tyre on display at SIMA has been manufactured in Europe.
Full year results for Swedish firm Trelleborg AB show its Trelleborg Wheel Systems business unit generated net sales of SEK 3,865 million (£386.8 million) in 2012, a very slight increase on a year earlier. In the final quarter of 2012 sales came to SEK 833 million (£83.4 million), 13 per cent less than a year earlier. Reporting this fourth quarter result, the company says Q4 sales were lower year-on-year in all market segments, however they were in line with general market trends. Operating profit amounted to SEK 449 million (£44.9 million) last year, a 12 per cent increase the Swedish company attributes to enhanced efficiency and favourable capacity utilisation. Final quarter operating profit dropped 27.3 per cent per cent to SEK 72 million (£7.2 million), primarily due to lower sales.
India’s JK Tyre and Industries Ltd attributes much of its improved profitability in the three months to 31 December 2012 to its strong performance in the truck and bus radial sector. Despite an overall slowdown in the Indian market and a slump in orders from OEM customers, the tyre maker recorded a net profit of Rs 211.4 million (£2.5 million) in its 2012-13 third quarter. This compares with a net loss of Rs 213.1 million (£2.6 million) a year earlier. Net sales between 1 October and 31 December 2012 amounted to Rs 12.7 billion (£152.4 million), down 7.6 per cent year-on-year.
Trelleborg recently received the highest rating – an ‘A’ – in AGCO Fendt’s supplier evaluation for 2012. The assessment scored Trelleborg’s overall performance on quality, service, logistics and environmental commitment.
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Several media outlets plus supporting information from Tyres & Accessories’ own sources are reporting that at least two private equity firms are preparing considering bids for Warburg Pincus LLC's majority stake in Alliance Tire Group (ATG). The potential deal is said to be valued at around US$400 million.
Those active in the US agricultural sector will benefit from a little TLC from Trelleborg. TLC – short for Trelleborg Load Calculator – is a new app for tablets, smartphones and computers. Trelleborg says the app, which is specifically adapted to meet the needs of the US market, has been developed to precisely calculate a tractor’s load per axle in order to determine the optimal tyre pressure for specific operating conditions.
“People in this world will always eat bread and rice,“ an agricultural tyre supplier said some years ago while participating in a panel of experts. However, it isn’t just the passenger car and truck tyre businesses that are vulnerable to negative conditions; the year following the Lehman collapse, 2009, showed that the agricultural tyre business was by no means recession proof. Investments in farming equipment and in tyres for these machines collapsed, however even back then it was clear that the market must bounce back at some stage as people will always need to eat. And that applies around the world, not just here. Because global populations are on the rise – we’ve already passed the seven billion mark – there is a corresponding increasing need for foodstuffs to be grown. Agriculture is a growth industry.
The influence of non-premium brand tyre manufacturers and of non-European produced tyres has markedly increased in the wider European agricultural tyre market. Something else that the data suggests is that a degree of desegmentation has occurred because all this has been set against a series of financial crises in Europe and its respective national markets. Not only are there opportunities for those entering the right niche at the right time, it would seem that there are opportunities for those entering the market at a different position to the historically dominant players.
Now in its 60th year of trading, independent wholesaler R H Claydon aims to offer an extensive product portfolio designed to meet the needs of discerning tyre distributors, service providers and end users in the UK and Ireland markets. According to business development and purchasing director John Parker, the agricultural or (off-highway) market is where RH Claydon does best and therefore is the area that the industry judges to be the company’s “core sphere of expertise.”
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