Shandong Linglong will soon be exporting high performance tyres from its new factory, commented company representatives at the Reifen exhibition. Work started on the £100 million 40,000 square metre facility last year and progress is said to be at an advanced stage. Full capacity at the plant should be reached by 2010, at which time it will have an annual output of 10 million tyres, bringing the company’s total capacity to 30 million pieces.
Goodyear will double its production capacity at the company’s Maipú plant in Chile, following an investment of US$400 million over the next four years. Chilean business news sources quoted Goodyear’s Chilean president, Claudio Rodríguez Pemjean, stating that despite the 100 per cent proportion of raw materials imported to the factory, Goodyear plans to compensate by increasing the efficiency of the production process and updating its current technologies.
In spite of determining that some 82,000 tyres produced between 2007 and March 2008 featured sidewall labelling not fully in compliance with US safety standards, Goodyear has petitioned the National Highway Transport Safety Authority (NHTSA) to exempt the products from a recall. The tyres in question incorrectly identify the number of plies in the tread as being ‘3 polyester and 2 steel’ rather than their actual ‘2 polyester and 2 steel’ manufacture, an error Goodyear believes to be inconsequential to vehicle safety as the tyres were correctly manufactured with the intended number of plies.
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To further meet the needs of its agricultural customers, the Goodyear farm department has this season invested in a new show display unit. The new vehicle, says Goodyear, forms part of the cornerstone for the company’s investment into the agricultural sector. The bespoke unit has been built to assist the farm team’s ability to meet with a greater number of farmers and answer their queries, with an emphasis placed upon Goodyear’s Optitrac range of tractor tyres.
The Optitrac farm tyre concept, comments Goodyear, uses the latest generation compound and construction technology, with the new R+ offering increased load carrying capacity or reduced inflation pressures to help minimise soil compaction. The optimised tyre footprint shape offers even pressure distribution as well as the premium tread depth allowing enhanced traction. The display unit features detailed information on the tyre range and explains the technology behind the range.
The growing demand for large radial agricultural tyres is behind Titan Tire’s decision to install ten new 130-inch cure presses. Plans are underway to install the equipment by the first quarter of 2009, and the company says that if demand is sufficient, and additional ten presses could be installed in the second quarter of 2009.
Capacity at Apollo Tyres’ South African facilities will rise by one fifth following a £12.9 million investment in its wholly owned Dunlop Tyres International (Pty) Ltd, South Africa (DTIPL) facilities in Ladysmith and Durban. “We are expanding the capacities of both the South African facilities by approximately 20 per cent during this fiscal at an estimated investment of 200 [million] South African Rand,” stated a senior Apollo Tyres official.
At present the combined capacity of the two factories is approximately 180 to 190 tonnes per day – a 30 to 40 tonne per d ay increase on levels two years ago. The majority of production is focused upon truck and bus radial products, with 15 per cent of capacity used to manufacture OTR tyres for the mining sector. These last products are mainly sold in Europe, Australia and South Africa.
While the Reifen Essen show featured brand new tyres by the truckload, a company more interested in their end of life counterparts was Eldan Recycling. Company product manager Bjørn Larsen, speaking with T&A, said that during the show Eldan had received many visits and enquiries from people involved in the growing recycling industry. “We have received interest from Eastern European countries, such as Russia, Romania and Latvia. The market is going east. Queries have also come from customers in Turkey, and representation from Asia, from potential customers seeking turnkey systems.”
Eldan can supply tyre industry recyclers with everything from individual pieces of equipment, such as choppers, raspers, separators and granulators through to complete turnkey outfits. All equipment is built by the company in its home country of Denmark. Individual items are modular in design to facilitate a painless addition of more units further down the track should the need arise. The popularity of Eldan products is evident from the number of large outfits it counts as customers, such as German automotive parts giant ATU, who operates six tyre recycling plants with a total annual capacity of 120,000 tonnes.
Following a surge in demand for tyres with heavier load carrying capacities, Goodyear has unveiled a newly upsized Sure Grip Implement. From August 2008 the 12.5/80-18 size Implement will offer support to heavier machine loads, increasing from a 10 ply rating to a 14 ply rating.
Goodyear is the first tyre manufacturer to feature a 14 ply rated tyre as leading competitors only offer a maximum of 12 ply. The increase will allow the new tyre a maximum nominal carrying capacity of 3000kg which represents an increase of 1140kg across the axle. The tyre is designed primarily for soft underfoot conditions, in which greater traction is a must.
The new tyre will be featured as OE fitment on agricultural machinery manufactured by Case New Holland and rough terrain specialists, Manitou.
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BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems has just celebrated the 30th anniversary of the opening of its commercial vehicle turbocharger factory in the city of Bradford. Only recently, the plant underwent extensive modernisation to ensure that it can optimally meet the ever-increasing demand for turbocharged commercial vehicle engines. In the past ten years alone, output in Bradford has more than doubled to over 400,000 units a year. The main customers include Renault/Volvo, Daimler and above all Deutz, who equips all engines with turbochargers from BorgWarner.
The commercial vehicle industry has been booming for years and new markets in Eastern Europe and Asia promise further growth. Environmentally friendly technologies are required to ensure that manufacturers continue to benefit from the current positive situation. As the market leader in the commercial vehicle sector and with many years of experience, BorgWarner Turbo & Emissions Systems makes a major contribution to guaranteeing that even the strictest emissions standards can be met without any loss of driving performance.
Goodway Integrated Industries views its recent venture into China and the purchase of a plant in the Malaysian city of Shah Alam as key to greater future earnings, reports Malaysia’s The Star newspaper. The company, which was caught off-guard by a sharp increase in rubber prices during the first quarter, expects improved performance in the coming months following a review of its selling prices.
“We are able to pass down some of the price increases to our customers, which should help improve our profits for the rest of the year,” group CEO Tai Boon Wee said after the group’s June 24 AGM.
Originally established by the Chinese government as an OTR manufacturer, Aeolus Tyre Co. Ltd. has, in its 43 years, become one of China’s top ten tyre producers. The company currently specialises in truck and earthmover tyres, manufactured at its 640,000 square metre factory in central China. Soon a second facility will also enter service. At the Reifen exhibition T&A spoke with company Europe Division Manager Mr. Cuiqiang Fu and vice general manager and chief engineer Mr. Yaoling Feng about the direction Aeolus is taking as a company and as a brand.
“Of greatest importance for Aeolus is an emphasis on quality, we always lay an emphasis on quality and technology,” states Mr. Feng. He notes that this focus lies at the heart of the company’s success. “The most important thing for management level at Aeolus is quality and improving the mindset of employees. All Aeolus employees know this brand and the factory would not exist without the quality of our product; all that Aeolus is today is due to that.”
Indian tyre firm JK Tyre & Industries has completed the purchase of a 100 per cent stake in Mexican manufacturer Tornel. The company reportedly spent 2.7 billion Rupees in bringing Tornel under its control. The move adds a 290 tonne production capacity in Mexico to JK’s domestic capacity of 650 tonnes.
In a statement from JK Tyre, the reasons cited behind the acquisition included the desire to increase the global impact of the firm, while the location of Mexico was particularly important in opening access to the North American Free Trade Agreement and the developing territories in Central and South America.
Afghanistan has developed a reputation as a centre of heroin smuggling activity; it is less widely known for another illegal cross-border trade – the smuggling of tyres into neighbouring Pakistan. Yet the importation of these sought after items appears to be well worth the effort and expense endured by those in the business, as the average price difference between the cost of a tyre to a smugger and an importer is said to be in the range of Rs3,000 to Rs5,000 (£22.50 to £37.60). Of the Rs3,000 minimum price difference, smugglers expend about Rs1,000 covering transport and bribe costs, leaving a respectable profit at the end.
Capacity has been expanded at the Turkish joint venture silica facility belonging to Evonik Industries AG. Following the addition of a new dryer, in operation since the second half of last year, capacity at Egesil AS in Adapazari, near Izmit, has been lifted to 40,000 tons a year. Growing demand for tyre silica in Europe is the key factor behind the decision to take such a measure.
The largest importer and exporter of passenger car tyres in Europe is Inter-Sprint. The Dutch company has approximately 250 permanent employees and growth in recent years had made the construction of a second premises in the town of Moerdijk necessary – the original site at Heinenoord, near Rotterdam, lacked sufficient space for adequate expansion. At the new site Inter-Sprint has the room it needs to develop a brand new 68,000 square metre facility, which it will do in phases. Significant extensions are planned for 2009.
Inter-Sprint is able to offer its customers a huge range of products that includes the major ‘A’ brands plus numerous private labels, including Milestone, Euro Tyfoon, Mastersteel, Roadhog and Meteor. The company also stocks a number of exclusive labels, amongst them the Viking brand of summer and winter pcr and lcv tyres, produced by Continental and exclusively distributed by Inter-Sprint in the Netherlands and several other European markets.
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