Birla Carbon has appointed John Loudermilk as CEO Birla Carbon, effective 1 August 2021. In his previous role of Chief Operating Officer (COO), Loudermilk is said to have played a key part in shaping the Vision of Birla Carbon. He is also said to have been “instrumental” in the launch of the company’s Continua brand of sustainable carbonaceous materials.
Upstream suppliers to the tyre manufacturing industry Nynas, Cabot and Evonik have received some of the top ratings in the 2021 EcoVadis auditing process. Specifically, these three firms all ranked in the top 1 per cent of their peers, earning platinum status. Meanwhile, carbon black supplier Birla Carbon received the EcoVadis’ gold accreditation.
Birla Carbon has appointed Dr Ann Schoeb as chief research and development officer. Dr Schoeb will have full responsibility for research and development work at Birla Carbon and will join the company’s senior management team. She reports to John Loudermilk, chief operating officer.
Birla Carbon will increase its carbon black prices by up to 9 per cent. All shipments made on or after the implementation date are subject to the price increase. The price increase is set to take effect from 19 April 2021.
The chief financial officer of Kesoram Industries reports that the company will invest Rs 3 billion (£29.3 million) into passenger car radial tyre production. Tridib Kumar Das told Indian financial daily Business Standard that the investment will be made in addition to the Rs 5 billion already spent on the car radial project, and that the company intends to bring its passenger car radials to market in May 2016.
The BSE has requested a clarification from India’s Kesoram Industries Ltd regarding a news article that states the company is reviving a project to manufacture passenger car tyres at its Basalore Birla Tyres plant.
The acquisition of tyre, tube and flap manufacturer Cavendish Industries Ltd. has been approved by the Board of Directors at JK Tyre & Industries. The Indian tyre maker is acquiring 100 per cent equity in Cavendish from Kesoram Industries Ltd. for just under Rs 22 billion (£214.6 million). According to JK Tyre, it and other JK Group companies will fund the acquisition by a combination of debt and internal accruals, and JK Tyre’s financial exposure is expected to be some Rs 4.5 billion (£43.9 million). The deal is expected to close in December 2015.
Indian manufacturer JK Tyre denies it is negotiating the acquisition of Birla Tyres with current owner Kesoram Industries. Responding to an article published by Indian financial daily The Economic Times earlier today, the tyre maker told BSE Ltd (the Bombay Stock Exchange) that “there is no transaction between JK Tyre & Industries Ltd. and Kesoram Industries Ltd.”
An article published by Indian financial daily The Economic Times, which claims MRF Tyres is in advanced discussions with Kesoram Industries over the purchase of its tyre making facility in Laksar, Uttrakhand state, has been labelled “purely speculative in content” by Kesoram Industries. In a letter sent to the Bombay Stock Exchange on 20 January, company secretary Gautam Ganguli stated that the news of negotiations was “based entirely on speculation and conjecture.” Kesoram sent a similar letter to the newspaper a day earlier.
Regional government ministers in India met with tyre makers on 18 December to discuss rubber prices. Chief minister of the state of Kerala, Oomen Chandy has chaired a meeting which proposed a minimum guaranteed price for rubber growers – a price of around Rs 125 to 130 (£1.25 to £1.30) per kilogramme was suggested. In recent times the price paid to Indian rubber growers has dipped as low as Rs 90 per kilogramme, a price considered unsustainable.
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