Asia
The organiser of Tyrexpo Asia 2013 recorded a “substantial increase in visitors” at the last show in Singapore. Exactly 4,355 individual visitors from 97 countries attended the trade exhibition held at the Singapore Expo Centre between 19 and 21 March 2013, an increase of 22.5 per cent in comparison to the 2011 show’s prior record. […]
Antonio Lopes Seabra, executive-vice president at Continental AG and head of the tyre maker’s PLT tyre Replacement Asia Pacific business unit, says Continental sees “great potential in the APAC region.” Over the past 12 months the company has commenced or stepped up operations in a number of Asian markets, and it aims to “bring more driving fun” to a broader audience in the Asia Pacific area by supplying products suited to the region.
The AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 kicked off on Friday 9 January in Melbourne, with Continental as the exclusive tyre partner. In association with the event, the tyre maker is now launching a series of campaigns under the ‘Thrill of Technique’ banner to fan the flames of football passion all over the APAC region, and particularly in China.
On 7 December, Performance Fibers – one of the world’s leading producers of industrial polyester fibre and fabrics, and supplier to the tyre industry – signed a definitive agreement to sell its Asia operations to Indorama Ventures PCL (IVL), one of the world’s foremost petrochemical producers. Financial terms of the agreement, expected to close in the next few months, were not disclosed.
The tyre market in the Philippines is forecast to grow at a CAGR of about 13.85 per cent between 2014 and 2019, according to a report published by TechSci. The report suggests the growth will be fuelled by a growing vehicle parc, infrastructure development and growth-focused initiatives taken by the government. While two-wheeler tyres accounted for a majority of the market share in 2013, the NCR region remained the highest contributor in tyre sales due to a large population living in the region and rapid development in industries located in the region.
Registration for Tyrexpo Asia 2015 has now opened. Tyrexpo Asia has come some way since the inaugural show in 1996. As Asia’s longest established tyre industry event, Tyrexpo Asia has grown steadily in size and popularity during this period.
While many of the quarterly results released at the moment make for depressing reading, those published by Goodyear Tire & Rubber yesterday show that the US-based tyre maker is making even better than expected progress on the path back to financial strength. An obviously pleased Richard Kramer reported on 29 October that Goodyear “delivered outstanding earnings growth in the quarter and achieved a segment operating income margin of more than 11 per cent, the highest in more than a decade, despite an increasingly challenged global economy. The chairman and chief executive officer added that “these results reflect our focus on capturing the value of our branded products in the marketplace and continued progress generating cost savings through our operational excellence activities.”
Starco has opened a new solid tyre manufacturing facility in Sri Lanka. The new facility, which has a capacity of 100,000 tyres per annum, replaces the original Starco facility in the country three years after starting production, and Starco states that the success of the venture has led to the need for a larger, more modern and better equipped factory. Starco continues that much attention has been paid to employee health and safety and welfare A Sri Lankan ceremony, in which the new workplace and its employees and management were blessed according to the local Buddhist tradition, was held in September to mark the opening.
More than 270 Bridgestone Corporation employees from around the world have attended the company’s fifth annual Bridgestone Group & Global Total Quality Management (TQM) Conference in Tokyo. Bridgestone reports that as has been the case since 2010, this year’s conference was held with the goal of encouraging ongoing and further improvement throughout the global Bridgestone Group. Examples were shared from various Bridgestone Group companies of activities that have led to improvements, with the aim of allowing attendees from around the world to learn from the efforts and accomplishments of their fellow employees.
Following the conclusion of Citexpo 2014 on 11 September, all initial figures point to the event being the most successful in the international tyre show’s history…by some way. Indeed, with this year’s unaudited visitor total said to have been around the 11,000 mark, the 2014 show could have grown by as much as 50 per cent since the last event, which attracted just over 7,000 visitors.
Annual and final quarter results for Apollo Tyres’ 2013-14 fiscal year, which ended on 31 March, show a solid increase in net profit for the India-headquartered tyre maker. In the 12 months between the start of April 2013 and the end of March 2014, the company achieved net sales of Rs 133.1 billion (£1.3 billion); this represents year-on-year sales growth of four per cent. Full-year operating profit rose 19 per cent over the previous year to Rs 19.7 billion (£197.2 million), while operating profit margin rose from 12.1 per cent to 14.8 per cent. Net profit jumped 64 per cent year-on-year to Rs 10.1 billion (£101.1 million).
The ‘Rubin’ project jointly conducted by Continental and the Fraunhofer Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME) has been honoured with a GreenTec Award. A 60-member jury panel determined the two parties’ work on producing natural rubber from dandelions worthy of a 2014 award in the ‘Automobility’ category. The awards ceremony took place in Munich, Germany on 4 May at the start of the IFAT environmental technology trade show. A total of 14 awards were given out.
Under restructuring measures Bridgestone is undertaking in the Asia region, Bridgestone Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. (BSAP) will expand its area of responsibility to include tyre operations in China. From 1 July, Bridgestone Asia Pacific – henceforth abbreviated to BSCAP – will become the head office in charge of both BSAP and Bridgestone (China) Investment Co. Ltd., the company’s current Chinese head office.
On 16 April, Pirelli handed out its 2014 Supplier Awards, the third such awards organised by the Italian tyre maker. Nine companies out of the thousands of suppliers Pirelli works with were singled out for recognition based on their performance in a number of areas, including quality – of course – but also “innovation, total cost of ownership, sustainability, global presence, level of service (which includes logistic performance) and speed of execution.” This year the spotlight was firmly on European suppliers, with companies from within this region taking eight of the nine awards.
In the first quarter of this year, sales at Continental Corporation increased 4.4 per cent to €8.39 billion, while net income attributable to shareholders of the parent rose 33.3 per cent to €588.3 million, or €2.94 per share. This jump in profits prompted CEO Dr. Elmar Degenhart to comment that the tyre and automotive systems manufacturer is “very capable of combining our growth with value creation.” EBIT rose by almost 21 per cent year-on-year to €903 million as at March 31. This corresponds to a margin of 10.8 per cent, after 9.3 per cent in the previous year. Adjusted EBIT for the first quarter climbed by 19.7 per cent year-on-year to €953 million in the first quarter. The adjusted EBIT margin was 11.4 per cent.
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