Asia
In reporting Rhodia’s first quarter 2009 results, company chairman and CEO Jean-Pierre Clamadieu has reflected upon a difficult three-month period. “As anticipated, we faced in the first quarter unprecedented low levels of demand,” said Clamadieu. “This, combined with the absorption of costly raw material inventories, resulted in a major adverse impact on profitability.”
As well as reporting from the this year's Tyrexpo Asia Show, April's Tyres & Accessories magazine includes features on High Performance Tyres and Vintage Tyres.
Less than two years’ after being granted approval by the Thailand Board of Investment, Yokohama Rubber has officially opened its ‘Tire Test Center of Asia’ proving ground in Rayong Province. Work began on the 2.5 billion yen centre in September 2007 and the site was ready for use last December. Although the opening ceremony was not held until April 30, tyre testing has been performed at the proving ground since January 2009.
As a major importer of far eastern manufactured tyres, Bond International’s presence at Tyrexpo Asia was significant. The company, which has been established for more than forty years, has acquired during its time in the business vast experience in the import and export of tyres to and from the UK. Today Bond International can provide unrivalled delivery service thanks to its four warehouses and stock level of over 600,000 tyres. As well as distributing all leading premium brand tyres the company is also the agent for Marshal, Admiral, Infinity, Sumo, Firenza, Rotalla and Gerutti.
According to GPX International Tire – one of the world’s leading industrial and agricultural tyre specialists – the company has recently particularly focused upon its presence in Asian markets, and executive vice president Neil Ganz reports “a huge growth in sales” has taken place there. As a result the company chose to once again exhibit at Singapore’s Tyrexpo Asia in order to further expand the growing customer relationships forged in this part of the world.
Since Belshina opened its first sales office outside of the CIS region, in Lithuania, a year and a half ago, the Belarusian commercial vehicle tyre specialist has looked towards establishing itself in even more regions. One particular area where Belshina has turned its attention is Southeast Asia, where the company is focusing upon the distribution of its earthmover tyre range. At Tyrexpo Asia the director of Belshina Asia, Maksim Smyslov, shared that the Belarusian manufacturer founded a new Singapore based operation in November 2007. It has been trading since last year and is focusing for the time being upon the earthmover tyre business, marketing these products to the region’s mines and mining operators.
“In these hard times we are very happy that…” – So begins the organiser’s summary of Tyrexpo Asia, which during its seventh running attracted 2,985 visitors (a decrease of 5 per cent on the last time) and 135 exhibitors (an increase of 8 per cent) within an exhibition space unchanged from 2007. While these figures highlight how the exhibition developed, they only show a single snapshot. The sense of increased hesitation to spend money on travelling to and exhibiting at a show was in line with what one would expect in the current market situation. But what bare numbers do not depict is ‘visitor quality’, something that both the organiser and exhibitors noted to be “superior to very good.” Furthermore, Tyrexpo Asia also provided an ideal platform for tyre wholesalers and their suppliers.
Not many companies successfully negotiate the transition from retreading to the new tyre industry. India’s Malhotra Rubber Ltd., however, is one such firm. The company began producing cold cure retreading materials more than fifty years ago, but it was only in the late 1970s that it began the manufacture of new tyres. Much later, some five years ago, the Indian company entered the radial market with a commercial vehicle tyre intended for the domestic market. Despite this, the company’s offering in European markets continues to focus on the supply of cold cure retreading materials, which are sold under the ‘Malhotra’ brand name. The company stressed at Tyrexpo Asia that it also supplies materials for the as-yet not widespread Indian mould cure retreading industry – a line-up that includes bonding rubber and repair patches.
During the planning of a factory’s layout and manufacturing processes, the integration of process automation solutions and software at an early stage maximises cost and time savings for the customer. Rockwell Automation, a global leader in the supply of industrial automation power control and information solutions, is collaborating with German company TTC (Technical Tire Consulting) in order to do just that – deliver reduced integration costs, optimised capacity availability, safe product quality and ensured traceability. When Tyres & Accessories met with representatives from both companies during February’s Tire Technology Hamburg exhibition, they explained exactly how tyre industry customers stand to benefit.
Since its establishment in 1977, Turkish wheel manufacturer Jantsa has constantly worked towards building up and expanding its export business. Today its wheels are exported to over 80 countries worldwide, Jantsa export area manager Europe Omar Oztan told Tyres & Accessories. In fact, three out of every four wheels produced by Jantsa is destined for export. A region of increasing interest for the Turkish company is Southeast Asia. For this reason the company decided this year to once again exhibit at Tyrexpo Asia.
There is no doubting that the Shanghai representative office opened by Marangoni in the summer of 2007 has developed since its initial establishment. Talking with Tyres & Accessories at the sidelines of Tyrexpo Asia in Singapore, where the Marangoni Group was also exhibiting, office manager Marcello Gambarini stated that the Italian retreading and tyre business already has a seven-strong sales team operating in China and the 30-plus year tyre industry veteran added that Marangoni has now reached “the end of its preparation phase.” This means that Marangoni in China is ready to supply its tread material and retreading products to the industry. Rather than being used in Marangoni-owned factories these products will be used by partners, Gambarini disclosed, also noting that the company’s premium Ringtread products and top of the line machinery do not at present feature on the Chinese market product list; there isn’t as yet a great demand for these items within the country’s growing retreading industry.
GfK Asia is planning to expand its market research coverage to include tyre reports in China, Korea and Malaysia, followed by Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand at a later stage. The Korean market information is scheduled to be processed first with Malaysia following after that. In the first instance the reports will specifically focus on the tyre market with a view to exploring engine oil and other spare parts markets in the future.
GfK Korea, a subsidiary of GfK Asia, is to record data from 4400 shops across five regions (Seoul, Inchon, Kyunggi, Kyungbuk, Kyungnam). Meanwhile GfK Malaysia’s survey analyses the sales of the 17,800 spare parts shops, garages and tyre specialists that serve the pool of more than 12 million motorcycles, passenger and commercial vehicles. GfK Malaysia will launch its first passenger car tyre retail tracking report in June 2009 and the company hopes to expand both studies as the reports gain momentum.
One of the major prerequisites of a functioning retreading market is the fluidity of casing supply. This is where casing dealers such as Dikabo and Robeo play an important role, because what retreader – whether small-scale or even from the new tyre industry – would choose to deal with the logistics and technical requirements of dealing in casings personally rather than look after their core business of retreading used tyres. The secret to Evert Dilling’s success has been the ongoing availability and supply of casings to his customers, plus the high level of casing quality.
The 2009 edition of the Scrap Tire & Rubber Users Directory is now available. Updated annually, the directory contains more than 2,000 listings with name, address, telephone, fax, e-mail, web address, contact person and a summary of products and services provided by the companies. Published by Recycling Research Institute (RRI), the 2009 edition provides current market data in the Market Price Survey. This section gives a three-year price index of average prices for crumb rubber, tyre-derived fuel, and buffings. US tipping fees for whole tyres are also provided.
Thai based commercial and two-wheel vehicle tyre specialist Deestone, through the founding of the new company Deestone Radial Tire Co. and the establishment of a new factory, has set foot into market territory held by the “Big Three”. The Thai radial tyre market, like almost every other around the world, is dominated by Bridgestone, Michelin and Goodyear. Yet the decision makers at Deestone Ltd. are losing no sleep over the position their own passenger car and light commercial vehicle radials hold in the domestic market – only two years after the opening of the company’s first radial tyre factory, its Thai market share has grown to five per cent. As Deestone’s business development manager Noppadol Nimdee explained during Tyrexpo Asia, this market share is expected to further increase.
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