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Titan’s Board Approves Giant Tyre Production

The go-ahead has been given for Titan International to gear-up for giant tyre production. The company’s Board of Directors approved the allocation of funding to increase mining tyre production by the addition of 57 and 63-inch sizes to its range. This injection of finances should give Titan the ability to produced around 6,000 of the giant radials per year.

“We are very excited about this newest venture since there are only two manufacturers in the world that produce 63-inch radial tyres: Michelin and Bridgestone,” said Titan Chairman and CEO Maurice M. Taylor Jr. “This is what it’s all about; a small American company going up against two powerhouse foreign companies, one French, the other Japanese.

“Titan has assembled a great team, and we believe that we have a better way to produce these giant tyres. We believe radial tyres perform better on 15-degree wheels, which is what cars and trucks now utilise. Titan has developed these wheels and we plan to produce our new tyres on a 72.5-inch 15-degree wheel at the same time as we produce 63-inch radial tyres.”

21st May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Microwave Ready Tyres

New Jersey based Global Resource Corp. (GRC) claims to have developed a patent pending process that allows for the low cost acquisition of alternative petroleum products from various resources. According to the company, the process uses specific frequencies of microwave radiation to extract oils and alternative petroleum products from secondary raw materials. As part of its broader resource acquisition technology program GRC has revealed, through filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, that it intends to build a US$70 million tyre-recycling plant at the site of a former steel works in the state of Pennsylvania.

The facility will take approximately a year to build once official clearance has been granted for work to commence, and when operational will employ around 250 people and be able to process approximately 16,000 kilograms of tyres per hour, according to GRC head engineer Hawk Hogan. The plant will employ the company’s microwave process in a vacuum environment, using what they call ‘molecular vibrations’ to ‘crack’ the hydrocarbon chain and breaking tyres down into their base material components.

18th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental Automotive Systems Starts India Operations

Continental Automotive Systems has opened a liaison office near New Delhi and inaugurated a technical centre in Bangalore, India. Continental set-up the liaison office in Gurgaon, near the capital New Delhi, in 2006. Working from here the company aims to expand its business with Indian and international OEMs in India. According, to the company the Technical Center in Bangalore will be involved in development projects “for all the business units of Continental Automotive”

As an initial part of the concept, two independent engineering facilities have been established with local partners in Bangalore. About 60 engineers work in Bangalore for Continental Automotive Systems today. It is planned to reach a capacity of more than 200 engineers in 2008, so Continental will be hiring intensively in the next few months.

18th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Van den Ban – A Total Tyre Supplier

Van den Ban came to Brityrex with new products – and with news of the company’s expansion plans and how they can serve their UK customers.

The most significant of Van den Ban’s new products to be shown at Brityrex was the new range of SUV sport tyres from their exclusive private brand Novex. As Michael Noorland, a member of the company’s UK sales team, explained, this range signals Van den Ban’s first venture into the 4×4 market with Novex, and it fills a gap the company identified in its product range. Designed with smaller 4×4 vehicles in mind, the Novex SUV Speed range will be available in a total of 16 sizes between 15 and 20-inch and in speed ratings from H to W. The first product in the SUV Speed range to be released onto the market is the sports-oriented 255/55VR18, which will most likely be available from late May 2007. The remainder of the range will be available from the end of July.

16th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Nizhnekamskshina To Open New Rubber Mixing Facility

Nizhnekamskshina, Russia’s third largest tyre manufacturer, will in June complete the final stage of its production line for Kama Euro tyres, a range that draws on technical expertise from Italy’s Pirelli. The final facility in the project, a 25 million euro rubber mixing facility with a capacity of 21,000 tonnes of silica rubber compound, will open in June 2007.

16th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear’s Marathon Now Better Equipped to Go the Distance

Goodyear is set to release a longer-lasting and more durable version of its ultra-low profile trailer tyre, the Goodyear Marathon 455/40R22.5 LHT (Long Haul Trailer). To differentiate this new and improved version from the existing Marathon a plus symbol has been added; the LHT+, as the new tyre is to be known, has the distinction of being the lowest diameter 22.5” trailer tyre on the market and, Goodyear claims that, amongst other performance improvements, the LHT+ offers 10 per cent more mileage than its predecessor.

With the Goodyear Marathon LHT+ 455/40R22.5 tyre featuring what its manufacturer states is the lowest aspect ratio – 40 per cent – offered on a trailer tyre, operators are able to maximise the size of the brakes fitted to units wearing the Marathon LHT+, making the tyre a suitable choice for maximum cube ‘Mega Trailers’.

14th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin and Goodyear Dunlop Chosen for Pan-Govt Supply Agreement

Michelin, with its service partner ATS Euromaster, has been appointed as one of two suppliers of tyres and associated services in a three-year framework agreement for a pan-government tyre sourcing initiative led by the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency (NHS PASA), in conjunction with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC). The other supplier is understood to be Goodyear Dunlop who will service the agreement through its HiQ and Truck Force retail networks. According to sources close to the arrangement, the contract is divided equally between the two suppliers.

Available to all Public Sector Organisations (PSOs) across the UK – encompassing a combined vehicle parc of more than 300,000 vehicles, ranging from cars and motorbikes to vans, trucks and earthmovers – the deal represents the largest tyre framework agreement of its type ever established in the UK. It also includes the option of a 12 month extension until January 2011 and is estimated to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

The agreement has been set up to deliver significant efficiencies as a result of combined volumes, additional leverage and collaborative working between central government departments and wider public bodies nationwide.

14th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

European Commission Approves VB Autobatterie Acquisition

The European Commission has reported its approval of German company VB Autobatterie GmbH’s proposed acquisition of Italy’s FIAMM group’s automotive starter battery business, subject to the German company allaying competitor’s concerns about the impact such a deal may have.

These concerns are related to the FIAMM group’s business in Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, as the company holds a strong market position there. A question mark hangs over the impact the planned transaction will have in these markets. VB Autobatterie has offered to divest some of its manufacturing capacity and some key FIAMM brands relevant to the replacement part markets in these countries.

The Commission’s initial market investigation in December stated that the proposed acquisition would raise ‘serious competition concerns’, but its latest position is that, subject to a number of conditions, the takeover would not have any significant hindering effect upon competition within European markets.

11th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodway: Why Products Have to be Pine Tar Free

Pine tar has a long history. It is renowned for its sticky properties and is used heavily in the tyre retreading business. As a common component used by rubber compound manufacturers to produce cushion gum, it serves as a medium to bind the pre-cured tread liner to the buffed tyre casing during the retreading process.

However, not many people are aware of the health dangers linked with prolonged exposure to pine tar. When used in certain rubber retreads, it reportedly emits fumes that are said to lead to asthma, eye and lung irritation – and even cancer. The Environment Directorate of the European Commission that restricts the marketing and use of various biocides considered hazardous to human health and to the environment, included pine-tar its list in September 2006 (http://www.european-maritime-heritage.org/EMHsite/Projects/pinetar.htm). Likewise, the European Union directive on health and safety has also banned pine tar that is used in various industries, closing down the possibility of its future use within certain limits.

11th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Increase Production Capacity in Thailand

In addition to its plans to treble capacity at its Shinshiro-Minami factory in Japan, Yokohama has released details of its intention to boost production capacity for passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres in Thailand. Yokohama Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) will expand capacity in the number two plant at its 420,000 square metre Rayong Province factory, the Yokohama Group’s largest tyremaking facility, to 2.8 million tyres in the 2009 financial year.

As part of this second stage of expansion at their number two plant, Yokohama Rubber will employ a small-scale integrated manufacturing system like that previously introduced in the first stage of expansion. This system will shorten the timeframe between the beginning of plant construction to when operation start-up begins requires a smaller-size investment. This second stage expansion program will take one year and 7 billion yen (£29.3 million) of investment.

11th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Guangzhou Pearl River – Six Brands, One Company

Guangzhou Pearl River Rubber Tyre Ltd. is the product of a Chinese-international joint venture. Although in business since 1970, the company benefited significantly from the establishment in 1993 of a 30/70 partnership between the Guangzhou GuangXiang Enterprise Group and Carham Assets Limited. Since that time the company has grown into an enterprise with half-year revenues in excess of £19 million (January-June 2006).

The company, which has its headquarters in Guangzhou city, Southern China, employs almost two thousand staff, including 150 technical experts, and its primary focus is the manufacture and marketing of commercial vehicle bias tyres. In 1983 Guangzhou Pearl River was the recipient of production line and inspection technology and equipment from Dunlop in the UK, and today the company takes pride in their state-of-the-art facilities.

10th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Do-It-Yourself

With the global OTR tyre market dragging on into yet another year of shortages, some large scale equipment operators are more than fed up – they are ready to take matters into their own hands. With supplies of quality new tyres remaining scant and some sources asking obscene prices for tyres, and given the impact the number of retreadable used casings available, or not available, has had on the retreading market, keeping one’s vehicles suitably shod at may times require a whole new approach. If you can’t buy a retread, why not buy a retreader….

Or at least partner yourself with a company possessing specialist knowledge in the retreading of OTR tyres. One such company who has done just that is mining giant Rio Tinto, whose vast open cast mines in the expanses of Western Australia make up 20 per cent of the global conglomerate’s assets and deliver more than 70 million tonnes of iron ore per year, as well as a number of other commodities in differing quantities. But operations on this scale cannot be maintained without earthmoving vehicles such as loaders and graders, not to mention the massive dump trucks synonymous with industrial mining – and to keep the supply of wealth flowing from the ground all of these vehicles require tyres.

10th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama to Treble HPT Capacity at Shinshiro-Minami

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., has announced that it is to increase production capacity of its Shinshiro-Minami Plant in Aichi Prefecture. By expanding a tyre plant now in operation, the company will more than treble the plant’s production capacity from current 1 million to 3.1 million tyres a year in the 2009 full year. Yokohama Rubber plans to invest 10 billion yen in the plant expansion.

Yokohama Rubber constructed the Shinshiro-Minami Plant as a branch plant of Shinshiro Plant at a site of Shinshiro South Regional Industrial Park purchased from Aichi Prefecture in April 2002. Following a mixing plant’s start of operation in April 2003, a plant specialized in manufacturing high-performance tyres (HPT) with larger internal diameters for passenger cars and sports utility vehicles began operating in February 2004.

10th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Passes the 100 Million Mark in China

In late March Hankook Tire celebrated a significant milestone – the 100 millionth tyre manufactured by the company in China came off the production line at Hankook’s Jiaxing facility in Zhejiang Province. This achievement is noteworthy not only in terms of Hankook’s presence in China, but it also serves as a reminder of the speed at which the country’s tyre industry has developed – China’s National Bureau of Statistics records the nation’s total tyre production in 2006 to be 433 million units, a 15 per cent year on year increase.

Speaking on this topic in early 2007, Cho Choong Hwan, vice chairman and former CEO of Hankook Tire, remarked that production from within the BRIC nations – Brazil, Russia, India and China – was growing at a faster rate than domestic demand, meaning that exports from these market were growing considerably, particularly from China.

9th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Rhodia to Enter Silica JV in China

French chemical company Rhodia has announced it is entering into a joint venture agreement with the Qingdao Haiwan Group and Qingdao Dongyue Sodium Silicate Company to build a sodium silicate plant in Qingdao, China. The facility will boast a capacity of 220,000 tonnes and is scheduled to come on-stream during the first quarter of 2008.

Sodium silicate is a key intermediate for precipitated silica manufacturing. The new facility will supply Rhodia’s Asian silica manufacturing plants in Qingdao, China and Incheon, South Korea, which specialise in producing high performance silica predominantly used in the manufacture of tyres – most notably, according to Rhodia, low rolling resistance tyres.

“This new facility will give Rhodia a source of competitive raw material to support the growing needs of its silica business in Asia,” commented Eric Noyrez, President of Rhodia Silcea. “As the global leader in high performance silica, we benefit from a rapid increase in demand of the tyre, nutraceutics and silicone markets”.

8th May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors