Titan Internatinal Inc has announced that the company successfully secured a $200 million senior unsecured five-year bond on 28 December 2006 that allowed it to pay off its revolving credit facility. However the manufacturer also warned that its farm business was down at least $75 million in 2006 and that it may report a negative gross margin for the fourth quarter of 2006.
India’s largest tyremaker, MRF, recently outlined its plans for expansion at three of its factories. The expansion is estimated to cost somewhere between £58 and 70 million, and will be implemented over a period of two years.
Giti Tire (China) Investment Co. Ltd, China’s largest tyremaker, has voiced its intention to raise tyre production capacity at its Hualin factory. The company intends to boost annual capacity there by a further 4.6 million tyres from its current 3.4 million by the end of 2008.
Giti Tire operates six factories in Mainland China, the largest of these being in Anhui and Fujian provinces. The company recently announced plans to sell bonds in order to free up revenue for capital expenditure.
Goodyear has launched a new steer tyre for 7.5 tonne vehicles which is said to give significant operator benefits thanks to its size. According to the manufacturer, the Regional RHS 225/70R17.5, which fits standard rims, increases front axle weight capacity whilst providing enhanced handling and better wear characteristics.
Bridgestone Corporation has announced its intention to construct a facility in Japan for producing large and ultralarge radial tyres for fitting to mining and construction vehicles. This decision comes in response to increasing worldwide demand for such tyres, fuelled by escalating global mineral resource production.
The new facility will be built in the southern city of Kitakyushu, on a 20 hectare site within the Hibikinada Industrial Area. Requests for building permits have already been made, and following negotiations with city officials Bridgestone hopes to conclude an agreement during the first half of 2007.
Indian textiles company Gupta Synthetics seems set to be entering the tyre raw materials market after announcing plans to invest 2.23 billion rupees (£25.5 million) to set up a nylon tyre cord fabric (NTCF) making and nylon filament yarn (NFY) making factory in the city of Silvassa.
The facility will produce the cord fabric and yarn for the tyre, textile and furniture industries and will have an output capacity of 8,128 tonnes per year. The NFY side of the operations should be producing output by October 2007 while NTCF production fabric will commence in 2008.
It isn’t only a vehicle’s tyres that are vital to smooth running and stress free operating. Without proper care and attention a car’s battery charge capacity can be drastically reduced, resulting in breakdowns and the unnecessary disposal of otherwise serviceable batteries. To ensure that the most can be made from any battery, Traction has released the MPL charger.
Beijing yesterday released plans aimed at increasing the use of recycled materials and boosting the city’s solid waste-recovery capacity by 2010. The plans included recovery targets of 95 per cent of waste automobiles and 70 per cent of end of life tyres. In 2005 only 4 per cent of Beijing’s retreadable casings were retreaded, the China Daily newspaper reported.
Taiwan’s leading tyre manufacturer, Cheng Shin Rubber Industrial Co, has announced plans to invest US$120 million in China during 2007. This investment will primarily take the form of expansion in production capacity.
The history of the Triangle Tyre Co. Ltd goes back three decades, when the Weihai Tire Factory opened a plant in Weihai, Shandong Province, China. In 1997 it changed its name and began trading as Triangle Tyre Co; part of the Triangle Group of companies. Since then the company has grown rapidly and it is now aiming at nothing less than being a top 10 player in the global tyre market.
Triangle is currently one of the top 500 companies in China and employs 6,300 staff. Depending on which criteria you use, Triangle is the 12th, 13th or 14th largest tyre manufacturer in the world – not bad for such a young company. The turnover last year was US$980 million and has risen by 50 per cent in the past three years.
Ceat Tyres is planning to set up a new truck and bus radial production plant, which would also be used to produce car, tractor and speciality tyres, such as EM/OTR products, with at estimated cost range of 4.5 – 6 billion rupees (around £51 million). Local news sources have reported that the company is currently “scouting for land across India.” The final decision will reportedly be taken shortly.
The Pirelli P Zero Corsa System has been approved by Aston Martin as a Sports Tyre option on the 2007 V8 Vantage; a handcrafted sports car that offers electrifying performance and outstanding agility, making it one of the world’s most desirable sports cars.
Dunlop India Ltd is reportedly taking steps to enter the OTR tyre market by cooperating with Bharat Earth Movers Ltd and Coal India Ltd (CIL). Kolokata Newsline reports that the companies have decided to invest in tyre-makers to ward off a supply crisis in India. BEML has already tied-up with CIL for providing 1 billion rupees (£11.4 million) each to Apollo Tyres and JK Tyres as a soft loan so that they manufacture dumper-truck tyres. According to the Kolkata Newsline, CIL needs to replace at least 2,696 tyres in 2006-07 and a total of 19,300 tyres by 2011-2012.
Sapphire Energy Recovery has announced the launch of a new product made from scrap tyres for use in landfill as a leachate drainage blanket. Recovered tyre gravel (RTG50) is derived from end of life tyres shredded into 50mm chips. RTG50 has proven successful as a replacement for landfill drainage engineering providing a sustainable alternative to the use of finite aggregates.
Soopa Toobs, a leading niche product supplier, reports that has widened it speciality offering. The tyre portfolio has been widened to include agricultural, industrial, lawncare, ATV and utility vehicle tyres, from such household names as Carlisle, Trelleborg, Goodyear, Dunlop, Eurogrip and others. The company also opened a new warehouse this year, which increases warehousing capacity by 300 per cent.
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