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Lockwoood Haulage Chooses Michelin X-One Tyres

Derby-based Lockwood Haulage has become the first operator in the UK to specify Michelin’s X-One XDA2 Energy tyres, which have been fitted as original equipment to its new MAN TGA 4×2 tractor unit. The wide single drive axle tyres (495/45 R22.5) were selected primarily for their ability to reduce the overall fuel consumption of the vehicle by a further two per cent, compared with a traditional twinned 315/70 R22.5 fitment. This is in addition to the existing six per cent reduction the company already enjoys by fitting Michelin A2 Energy tyres across its fleet of 45 tractor units and 90 trailers.

Robert Lockwood, Managing Director of Lockwood Haulage, explains: “We consulted Michelin’s technical team closely before specifying the X-One tyres, having heard about the additional savings enjoyed by many operators on the Continent already using wide single drive axle tyres.

“Ninety five per cent of our fleet operates at 40 tonnes, so the tyres didn’t pose any operational constraints, and I’m looking forward to monitoring the fuel savings closely over the coming months,” he adds.

6th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop India Planning to Produce Aircraft Tyres

Despite the recent troubles that have plagued Dunlop India, the company is remaining positive and has announced that, as part of an initiative to revive its fortunes, the company will begin manufacturing aircraft tyres and industrial products at its Sahaguni and Ambattur factories in September. Production at both factories is currently halted, allegedly due to a shortage of working capital.

“We will start manufacturing industrial products like conveyor belts and other products used in steel and other industrial plants and these will be part of the revival programme,” reported Dunlop India vice-president Dhrubojyoti Nandi. “The production will start in September, when both the factories in Sahagunj and Ambattur resume full operation.”

6th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Dunlop Increases Truck Tyre Production

Goodyear Dunlop is to increase truck tyre production output at its Luxembourg factory to 6000 units a day. Speaking at the launch of Goodyear Max Technology at the company’s Mireval test centre in the south of France, European truck tyre operations managing director, Henry Johnson, told Tyres & Accessories that the move mean the Luxembourg plant is running at maximum capacity, up 10 per cent from its previous operating capacity. The announcement answers suggestions of a CV tyre supply and demand gap from some market analysts. Johnson played down those suggestions saying: “It won’t have a dramatic effect on business” as companies like Goodyear would adjust production allowing supply to even out.

Nevertheless, Johnson gave details of a two-phase capacity increase programme that begins with increased production at Luxembourg. This will be followed by further capacity increases after 6-9 months. A second phase of expansion is expected in 18 months time. The news follows earlier announcements that Goodyear would invest an additional $20 million in capacity increases at it Polish production plant.

5th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Birla Tyre Planning Greenfield Project

B K Birla Group chairman Basant Kumar Birla has announced plans for an £85 million greenfield tyre factory in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand. The plant, to be built near the city of Haridwar, where the company has already acquired a 42 hectare site, will have a production capacity of 1.7 million passenger car tyres per year. The plant is anticipated to be ready within the next two years and is to be funded through internal accruals and loans.

Birla Tyres entered the Indian market in 1991 and today is India’s fifth largest tyremaker, with production facilities in the eastern state of Orissa. The plant in Balasore, Orissa was set up with technical assistance from Pirelli UK, and has an annual production capacity of 1.5 million tyres, including passenger car and light commercial radials as well as bias car, truck and agricultural tyres. Birla Tyres states that its products are exported to 43 countries.

4th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Discontinues Bias-Ply Agricultural Tyres in North America

Michelin Agricultural Tires has decided to discontinue the supply of BFGoodrich brand bias-ply agricultural tyres to North America. The company’s decision to market a radial only range comes at a time when radial tyres make up more than 30 per cent of the overall North American agricultural tyre market, and the benefits of radials to agricultural users, such as greater load carrying capacity and reduced soil compaction, ensure this proportion will continue to increase.

“Since Michelin acquired the BFGoodrich brand in 1989, we have seen tremendous change in the agricultural industry,” said Bill Schafer, vice president of marketing and sales for Michelin North America Agricultural Tires. “Farming operations have increased in size and tractors, harvesters and sprayers have grown larger and more powerful as a result. More than ever, these machines need the durability and performance advantages that radial technology delivers compared to bias-ply construction.

3rd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

WRAP Names Three Funding Recipients

Three companies have become the recipients of grants from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) as part of their initiative to help businesses increase their capacity to reprocess old tyres. The initiative was open to any business involved in the reprocessing of tyre waste that would otherwise have ended up as landfill.

One of the recipients, Bristol Tyre, is a newcomer to the tyre processing industry and WRAP has provided support by funding a shredding machine and related equipment. A second recipient, McGrath, will use the WRAP funds to purchase tyre shredding and granulating equipment along with a loading shovel and grab machine. The third company, Great Yarmouth’s Aquablast, has developed bespoke machinery to remove steel from tyre rubber via high pressure water blasting. The WRAP funding has enabled Aquablast to create a machine capable of handling earthmover tyres.

2nd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Investing to Meet Asian Tyremakers’ Needs

Chemical group Lanxess has plans to expand its global position in the butyl rubber market and is pursuing plans to build a new facility in Asia. The company will invest somewhere in the vicinity of 400 million euros in the project and at present three possible sites – Singapore, Kuantan in Malaysia and Map Ta Phut in Thailand – are under consideration. Lanxess has reportedly already analysed a number of sites across Asia to assess their feasibility.

“This would be the largest investment in the history of our company,” said Lanxess management board chairman Axel C. Heitmann during a visit to Singapore. “In the next few months we will hold talks with possible host locations to determine the feasibility of the construction of a new plant. Should we decide upon a location, we will be able to bring the facility on stream in 2010.”

With this new investment Lanxess hopes it can further satisfy the growing demand for butyl rubber in Asia. Tyre production will continue to be the main use of butyl and Lanxess anticipates the continued rapid increase of the manufacturing capacity of Asian tyremakers.

2nd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

CTNA Announces $78 Million in New Investments for Mt. Vernon Plant

Continental Tire North America (CTNA) is planning US$78 million in new investments at Mt. Vernon facility. According to Conti, these funds will “significantly expand CTNA’s commercial operations and regionalise the company’s commercial tyre production to better meet market demand in the United States.”

“This is another major investment in our Mt. Vernon facility and one that will allow us to take our commercial operations to a new level,” said CTNA CEO Matthias Schönberg. “The market demand in the US for CTNA’s commercial tyres continues to grow, and this expansion will help us to serve all our customers better, faster and more efficiently.”

2nd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho’s Vietnam Latex Facility Ready for Production

Preparations to ready Kumho Tire’s US$4 million latex processing facility in Vietnam have reached their conclusion and on June 28 the new plant began operations. The facility, located towards the south of the country in Binh Dong province, has an annual capacity of processing 11,000 tons of natural rubber latex, which will be sourced from within the province. Plant output will supply the tyremaker’s $380 million tyre factory now under construction nearby.

When the new tyre factory enters production early in 2008 it will have a capacity of more than 3 million radials per annum, and these tyres will both be sold on the domestic market and exported to North American, European and ASEAN markets.

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Asahi Kasei Expands S-SBR Production to Meet Tyre Demand

Asahi Kasei Chemicals will increase annual production capacity for solution-polymerised styrene-butadiene rubber (S-SBR) by 10,000 tons at the Oita, Japan facility belonging to its subsidiary Japan Elastomer Co., Ltd., with start-up scheduled for April 2008. Following the completion of expansion the plant will have an output of 62,000 tons per year.

Worldwide demand for high performance tyres is expected to remain robust, and with a strong base in S-SBR technology suited for use in these tyres, Asahi Kasei believes it is in a leading position to expand supply to this growing market. The expanded plant capacity at Japan Elastomer will be dedicated to the production of a new line of modified S-SBR, which went on sale in April 2007. Made possible by what Asahi Kasei calls a ‘major advance in polymer modification’, this S-SBR reportedly raises the level of fuel efficiency achievable through the use of high performance tyres. The additional production capacity will ensure stable supply as sales continue to rise sharply.

28th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Degussa Targets South American Tyre Market

Degussa GmbH has doubled its carbon black production capacity in Paulinia, Brazil, to 100,000 tons per year. The move will make the company the world’s second largest manufacturer of carbon black with approximately 1.4 million tons per year.

“We have invested a total of 65 million euros ($85 million) in Brazil…Carbon black is one of the strategic growth areas that we are systematically expanding. This capacity enhancement allows us to serve the demand of our customers in the tyre and technical rubber-products industry even better. We are very optimistic overall regarding future growth in the rubber industry,” commented Dr. Klaus Engel, Chairman of the Board of Degussa GmbH at the opening of the plant.

Brazil is a core market for the Degussa’a Advanced Fillers & Pigments Business Unit. In the Brazilian market, around 90 per cent of the demand for carbon black comes from the tyre and technical rubber articles industry, and 10 per cent is used as pigment in plastics, dyes, enamels and print inks.

28th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Expansion Planned For Nokian Tyres’ St. Petersburg Factory

Nokian Tyres plc and Lemcon Oy, which is part of the Lemminkäinen Group, have signed a contract agreement on the expansion of Nokian Tyres’ plant in St. Petersburg. The contract was signed in Vsevolozhsk on 21 June.

Expansion will begin immediately and will be completed in March 2008. In total, the expansion will comprise approximately 33,000 square metres. Potential production capacity can be increased from the current four million tyres per year up to around 10 million tyres per year. Two new production cells will be installed in the new production premises in 2008 and these will increase the annual production volume to six million tyres. The maximum annual capacity of 10 million tyres will be achieved in 2011. Production machinery will be new and as automated as possible and the increased capacity will call for future investments in an expansion of the mixing plant and machine lines.

26th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Steel Giant Seeks Controlling Stake in Cooper JV Company

Information supplied by a spokesman for leading global steel manufacturer Arcelor Mittal indicates that the company plans to pay US$27 million for a controlling stake in China’s Chengshan Steel Cord Co. This stake, according to a China Business News report of June 20, could be higher than 90 per cent, however its exact size has not been specified, and Chinese government approval must first be granted before any transaction can take place.

The firm at the centre of the takeover plans is located in Rongcheng, Shangdong Province, and is a 75-25 per cent venture between Shandong Chengshan Group Co and the Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. The company produces steel cord and bead wire for use in tyre reinforcement, and has an annual output capacity of more than 60,000 tons. Chengshan Steel Cord achieved sales of 375 million yuan (£24.6 million) in 2006, up 51.5 per cent from a year earlier.

Cooper Tire has not commented on this proposed deal, but if it takes place they may be required to pull out of the venture they helped establish.

25th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Trelleborg Inaugurates New Plant in Dej, Romania

Trelleborg Automotive has inaugurated a new manufacturing facility in Dej, Romania. The increased production capacity from this is intended for Trelleborg’s existing customers Audi, Dacia, Ford, Peugeot and Renault in order to provide local supply to their Romanian and Eastern European plants.

“We have a strong global platform that will be further reinforced by this plant,” says Trelleborg President and CEO Peter Nilsson. “It is important to be close to the companies we supply to fulfill just-in-time requirements. This facility continues our commitment to the developing automotive sector in Eastern Europe.”

22nd June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

May Shipments Meet Expectations

RMA data indicates that replacement tyre shipments to dealers in May were up 1.1 per cent year-on-year (they were down 3.6 per cent in May 2006). According to Deutsche Bank analysts product mix was better in the month, as light truck tyre shipments were up 4 per cent, while passenger tyres were up 0.6 per cent.

As a result the financial analysts supported their earlier assertions that 2007 replacement tyre demand could track “well ahead of 2 per cent,” adding: “We continue to believe our 2007 Goodyear (Buy) and Cooper Tire (Hold) North American volume assumptions are conservative. Cooper is best positioned in our view to beat volume expectations, given over 40 million units of reduced capacity in the low-end tyre market.”

19th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors