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Nokian Q1 2009 Sales Down following 2008 Sales Growth

At the Nokian Tyres’ Annual General Meeting, held on April 2, company president and CEO Kim Gran announced that first quarter 2009 net sales are clearly lower than in the first quarter of 2008 and a net loss is expected. On a more positive note, Gran estimates that the first quarter will be the weakest of the year, and Nokian Tyres’ sales will increase during the other quarters. Full year net sales in 2009 will, however, be weaker than in 2008.

Last year proved to be Nokian Tyres’ 17th consecutive year of profitable sales growth, the company president and CEO told AGM attendees. Net sales of 1.08 billion euros for the financial year ending December 31, 2008 represent a 5.5 per cent increase on 2007 results, and operating profit increased a similar amount

3rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Collmann Launches VerTix Tyre X-Ray Machine

German machinery builder Collmann has designed and introduced a passenger car, and truck and bus tyre x-ray machine that the company says looks “quite different” from all existing x-Ray machinery. The new machine, known as the VerTiX, offers a similar layout and operation for passenger car tyre (13 to 24-inch) and for bus, light truck and truck tyre (15 to 27-inch) variants. The testing machine is built on a single base frame and is designed to fit inside a 20-foot container. Collmann says it can be set up for use at a site within a single day. The VerTiX unit can load, measure and unload a single tyre in less than twenty seconds, even in mixed operations. This equals a 20 per cent greater capacity than machines currently on the market.

31st March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Remog Widens Range of Coated Weights

Remog S.p.A, has widened the range of wheel balancing weights it offers, following the formation of a new plant for the plastic coated treatment of its products with epoxy powders. This plant supports Remog’s other site, which has been operating since 2000, and already has the capacity to cover at 100 per cent of the body of the weight. The new coating technology means the weights can now withstand certified 500 hours to salt fog test.

30th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

“More Than Twenty” Interested in TyreGenics Plant

Following the news that a fire had caused some damage to the Welsh TyreGenics operation last Friday (27 March), a spokesperson for Begbies Traynor, administrators of TyreGenics got in touch with Tyres & Accessories to explain that the damage was sustained by a storage facility and not the plant itself, while also revealing that the administrator was confidant of finding a buyer for the business. The business announced that it had gone into administration earlier in January, 18 months after opening as a joint venture between Credential Environmental, BOC, FieldTurf Tarkett and RTI Cryogenics in July 2007. The £4 million recycling plant has a processing capacity of 80 tonnes per day.

The spokesperson stated last Friday: “Last night we were made aware that a large fire had started at a secure outdoor storage facility that TyreGenics leases from a local haulage firm around half a mile from the TyreGenics plant at Baglan Industrial Estate. There were around 2,500 one tonne bags of recycled rubber crumb at the facility and all of this product appears to have been lost to the fire, the cause of which is being investigated by the police. Although the fire produced large amounts of thick black smoke, the fumes were not toxic.”

30th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni Adds to ‘Marix Ecology’ 4×4 Retread Range

According to Marangoni, its Marix Ecology range has proven a popular choice for off-road drivers thanks to a series of products designed for extreme use, such as Lion and Puma. Both of these tyres feature substantial tread blocks, and for this reason are sought by those who use their 4×4 for work or in sporting competitions, and want a tyre with good grip and drainage capacity. The latest additions to the Marix 2008 range are the Cruise and Ghepard, the latter a high performance tyre for SUVs that is approved for high performance and available in 17 and 18-inch sizes. Marangoni says the Ghepard ensures comfort and maximum grip in all conditions thanks to the use of high performance compounds.

27th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin’s Ardmore Plant Returning to Full Work Schedule Mid-April

Workers at Michelin North America’s Ardmore, Oklahoma passenger and light truck tyre facility will return to a full work schedule in mid-April, says company spokeswoman Lynn Mann. The factory has been operating at reduced capacity since last November, when approximately 240 employees were placed on eight-week furloughs. In February, Michelin announced plans to reduce production at the plant.

The reduced work period ends on April 13, said Mann. Following this date, employees will return to normal work schedules.

26th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Workers Protest Clairoix Plant Closure in Paris

Hundreds of France based Continental employees took to the streets of Paris on March 25 to protest the planned closure of the company’s Clairoix factory. The demonstrators burnt tyres and chanted slogans as they made their way to the Elysée Palace, official residence of the French president. Employee representatives from the facility also met with president Nicolas Sarkozy’s counsellor for social affairs, Raymond Soubie.

The protest coincided with talks between Continental CEO Karl-Thomas Neumann and board member Nikolai Setzer and French economy minister Christine Lagarde. Conti reports that the two men met Lagarde to assure her the decision to close the site was related to dropping tyre sales, and that the company hoped the public authorities could help in creating new jobs in the Compiegne region where the factory is located.

26th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Opens Giant Florida Distribution Centre

Bridgestone Americas opened the doors to its new 1 million square foot distribution center in Jacksonville, Florida.

Calling it “state-of-the-art tyre,” the company said the new facility has a capacity of more than one million tyres and will supply tyres and automotive parts to customers in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. It will also supply the entire U.S. with tyres produced in Latin America, and the eastern half of the U.S. with tyres from Japan and other Asian countries.

Bridgestone Americas operates seven distribution centres across North America. (Tire Review/Akron)

26th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Americas Strengthens Distribution Network

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations (BATO) has marked the official opening of its new tyre distribution centre in Jacksonville, Florida. The centre’s opening, says BATO, marks the latest step in its North America distribution centre modernisation programme.

With a capacity of more than a million tyres, ranging from small passenger and industrial tyres to those for medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, the Jacksonville centre will supply tyres and automotive parts to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. In addition, the distribution centre will supply the entire United States with tyres produced in Latin America, and the eastern half of the United States with tyres from Japan and the wider Asia region.

25th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Hungarian Manufacturers Scale Back Production

Tyre manufacturers in Hungary are reducing production due to a drop in demand, reports the business daily Világgazdaság. Hankook Tyre’s facility in Dunaújváros is operating at about 90 per cent capacity in the first half of the year, managing director Lee Sang Il informed the paper. The plant’s 1,200 workers will turn out about 5 million tyres in 2009. In 2008, the plant produced 4 million tyres, though it did not reach capacity until October. Hankook is also delaying the completion of an expansion at the facility until 2011. The first phase of the project, which will cost a total of 500 million euros, is already more than 60 per cent completed. When the capacity expansion is completed, the plant will raise staff numbers to over 1,500.

23rd March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

UniWheels – Now Number Three in Europe

The early 2008 acquisition of the ATS-Group’s European interests by the UniWheels group has led to the emergence of an aluminium wheel business that ranks number three in the European market. Subsequent to the purchase, which followed the insolvency of ATS Beteiligungs in July 2007, UniWheels has assumed the number three market position in Europe behind Ronal and Borbet (who produce approximately 12 million wheels per annum each) and ahead of Hayes Lemmerz and Turkish supplier CMS.

23rd March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

R H Claydon Relocates Scunthorpe Warehouse

R H Claydon has announced that it has relocated its Scunthorpe wholesale warehouse operation. R H Cladon has occupied a location in the Flixborough Industrial Estate since 1990 and has now “well out grown the site [and] moved to a larger location on the same industrial park.” The new branch occupies some 43,000 square feet and is served by a newly built loading bay to handle container traffic. This warehouse will better serve an expanded area that runs from the East Midlands north and east to the Scottish Border.

The location is said to have a larger holding capacity that will initially serve five delivery vans. This and the company’s other sales and service branches (at Bury St Edmunds, Swindon, Stockport and Falkirk) stock passenger, van, 4X4, light and heavy truck, agricultural, construction, industrial, small implement, Turf and ATV tyres – not to mention tubes and more.

17th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to Close Hanover and Clairoix Tyre Plants

Continental AG has opted to end production at its Hanover, Germany (truck tyre) and Clairoix (passenger car) production plants. Some 1900 employees at the two plants will be affected (780 in Hanover and 1120 in Clairoix). Truck tyre production at the company’s Puchov, Slovakia, (Continental Matador Rubber) will also be cut by 20 per cent.

Describing the current OE and replacement market trends as “steadfastly dire” a Continental statement explained that the company is basing the production cuts on the prediction that the market will not recover enough in the short or medium-term future to utilise existing production levels. Officials explained that the lack of demand has resulted in overcapacities of 15 million passenger and 1.7 million commercial vehicle tyres. The planned cuts focus on the Hanover and Clairoix plants, the statement added.

11th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

BATO Distribution Center Earns Honors

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations regional distribution centre at Cecil Commerce Center in Jacksonville, Florida, was named the “Industrial Project of the Year” at the annual National Association of Industrial and Office Properties. The distribution centre, BATO’s largest in the country, is a one-million-square-foot, $44 million facility on 63.3 acres at Cecil Commerce Center. The distribution centre has a significant impact at Cecil and has indirectly created more than 200 jobs at JAXPORT, according to BATO.

With capacity for more than a million tyres ranging from small passenger and industrial to commercial truck tyres, this centre supplies tyres and automotive parts to Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina. In addition, the distribution centre will ultimately supply the entire U.S. with imports from Latin America and the eastern half of the U.S. with tyres from Japan and other Asian countries.

“We are happy to be in Jacksonville — the people of this community have been great to work with,” said Steve Shelton, vice president of logistics and supply chain management, BATO. “The city of Jacksonville, the city council and the Jacksonville Economic Development Commission helped us every step of the way. They’ve proven to us that Jacksonville is a great place to live and do business. We are very fortunate to have such great partners in this endeavor.” (Tire Review/Akron)

9th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

CBp, Triputra Sign 20-year Carbon Black Replacement Deal

CBp Carbon Industries, Inc. has announced the signing of a 20-year sale agreement with Indonesia’s Triputra Group, a company CBp cites as to be the world’s largest producer and supplier of raw rubber to the tyre industry. The agreement provides, as and when CBp can deliver, that for the first ten years Triputra will take all deliveries up to 200,000 tonnes per year of CBp’s carbon black replacement ‘CBp Carbon Green’ at market discount and for 500,000 tonnes a year for the following ten years at market discount. CBp’s deliveries to Triputra are optional and the company says they will not take place unless it is profitable to do so.

6th March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors