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Kumho Tires Starts Work on Central R&D Centre

Kumho Tires makes no secret of its ambition to stand amongst the world’s top five tyre companies by 2015, and one channel the company says it will use to achieve this is to strengthen the Kumho R&D network. One key part of the South Korean manufacturer’s strengthening programme is the planned Kumho central R&D centre in Yong-in, Gyeonggi Province, and on May 15 an official ceremony was held to mark the start of construction work at the site. Numerous company executives and employees, including CEO Sae-Chul Oh, attended the ceremony.

The anticipated completion date for the central R&D centre is the latter half of next year. A sum of 70 billion KRW will be invested into the project, which will cover a floor space of 24,092 square metres and a land area of 34,842 square metres. The facility is planned to be, says Kumho, one of the world’s top three central R&D centres.

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Sumitomo Increasing Capacity at China Facility

Plans are reportedly underway to increase capacity at the Sumitomo Rubber (Changshu) Co. Ltd tyre facility in China by 20 per cent. Capacity at the factory, opened four years ago, has already been expanded once, and this latest round will increase daily output by some 30,000 passenger car tyres and 3,500 truck and bus tyres. About £68 million will be invested in the project.

2nd June 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

SRF Buys Thai Tyre Cord Company

SRF Limited has acquired Thailand-based Thai Baroda Industries Limited (TBIL) for 1 billion rupees (£11.8 million). According to the Calcutta News, TBIL has an annual production capacity of 12,000 tonnes of dipped nylon tyre cord fabric. Ashish Bharat Ram, managing director SRF Limited, said in an official statement: “Post financial restructuring and takeover of the company management, we are confident that we will able to turn the company in very short time.”

29th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MAI Group Acquires Jinyu OTR Facility

The Mai Group has announced the acquisition of a manufacturing plant and the related technology owned by Shandong Province, China based Jinyu Radial OTR tyres. The Italian company, founded in 1953 as a retreading business, has named the newly acquired manufacturing company “Mai (Shandong) Radial Tyre Co., Ltd.” and described the China facility as a ‘technically advanced radial tyre manufacturing plant with a highly skilled workforce.’ Mai Group also operates a new tyre factory in Turkey, opened in 2005. The Maitech tyre brand is produced at this facility.

29th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Discusses Wider Capacity Expansion Plans

Apollo Tyres has already discussed plans to increase capacity at its Gujarat and Kerala factories, and these projects are part of a wider plan to invest Rs 20 billion (£236.6 million) enhancing domestic and international production capacities. In addition to these expansions, the company will set up a new facility in Chennai.

According to Apollo Tyres chief of India Operations Satish Sharma, the company shall invest this sum over next three years, more than half of which, 200 million euros, would go towards its facility in Hungary. As part of the domestic capacity expansion, Apollo Tyre’s Vadodara plant will see its capacity of passenger car tyre go up from the existing 10,000 tyres a day to 15,000 tyres a day, by around mid-2009. The company will also enhance its truck and bus radial tyres capacity at Vadodara from the existing 300 tyres a day to around 1,100 tyres a day over the same timeframe.

27th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear ‘Considering’ $250 million Plant in Yaroslavl, Russia

Goodyear is reportedly considering building a five million unit tyre production plant in the Yaroslavl region of Russia, at a cost of between $200-250-million. According to Russian newspaper Kommersant, Goodyear executives met with regional governor Sergey Bakhrukov at the end of April in order to discuss a particular plot of land. In addition Kommersant reports President Dmitry Medvedev has asked the Russian Ministry of Trade and Industry to consider what investment benefits to offer Goodyear following a request from the regional governor. The plot in question apparently doesn’t yet have any infrastructure.

The next step could be the expansion of the US company’s relationship with leading Russian tyre manufacturer Sibur-Russian Tires. Goodyear has reportedly been running a PCR off-take agreement working in partnership Sibur-Russian Tires’ Yaroslavl Tire Plant for some time. In addition Sibur-Russian appears to be involved in the Goodyear discussions too. Speaking to Kommersant, Igor Karavaev, deputy general director of Sibur-Russian Tires said: “The project really is being discussed…[and]…Sibur is one of the participants in that discussion.”

19th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Tyres To Increase Capacity

Apollo Tyres has said that it will invest Rs 1,000 crore (around US$237 million) this year to increase capacity at its factories in Gujarat and Kerala. The projected production increase is 10 per cent on the current figure of 850 tonnes/day.

15th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Top Kumho Officials Attend US Groundbreaking Ceremony

Last Monday saw Kumho Tire begin construction work on its facility in the US state of Georgia, the fifth outside of Korea to be built by the company. Completion of work is anticipated for the second half of 2009, and initial capacity will be 2.1 million tyres.

“With the Georgia plant, Kumho Tire will be a further step ahead as a world-class tyre maker,” said Kumho Tire CEO Oh Se-chul in a statement.

14th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Reports Positive Annual Results

An increase in net sales of 10.9 per cent has been reported by Yokohama Rubber for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2008. This figure is slightly higher than the recently revised projection of 10.6 per cent and equates to 551.4 billion yen (£2.74 billion). Operating income, at 33.1 billion yen (£164.77 million), was up 57.2 per cent, again slightly higher than the projected figure (56.6 per cent). Net income, at 21,06 billion yen (£104.84 million), was up by 28.7 per cent on last year’s results but 1.8 per cent below those of 2006.

Leading the sales growth were gains in tyre markets outside Japan, says Yokohama. Total tyre sales for the year were 419.83 billion yen (£2.09 billion), an increase of 12.6 per cent. The double-digit sales growth reportedly more than offset the still-rising prices for raw materials and the upward trend in logistics costs. Operating profitability also benefited from the weakening of the yen during the fiscal year. Operating income climbed 77.6 per cent in Yokohama’s Tire Group, to 26.0 billion yen (£129.67 million). Progress in expanding production capacity at Yokohama’s tyre plants in Asia supported the company’s unit sales growth in markets outside Japan. Also contributing to the increased operating income in the Tire Group was improved profitability at subsidiaries in the United States and in Asian nations besides Japan.

12th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Preparing for Stage 4 Expansion of Onomichi OTR Factory

The fourth stage in the planned expansion of Yokohama Rubber’s Onomichi OTR tyre plant has been announced. The factory, in Japan’s Hiroshima Prefecture, has undergone expansion work since the 2007 financial year, and this latest 6 billion yen (£29.9 million) work will see monthly production capacity grow by 600 tons to a total of 2,500 tons in the financial year ending March 31, 2011, four times that of the 2007 financial year. The company reports it will reach this level earlier than the previously stated date of the 2012 financial year as strong demand for OTR tyres continues – Yokohama states a belief that demand will increase for at least another ten years.

12th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Birla Expansion to Add Radial Capacity

India’s Business Standard newspaper has reported on plans for Kesoram Industries to invest Rs 8.4 billion (£103.4 million) expanding its Birla Tyre factory in the northern state of Uttarakhand. Plans for the facility include a radial tyre plant with a 100 ton per day capacity, to be built with a capital outlay of Rs 4.95 billion (£60.9 million) and a 125 ton per day capacity truck and agricultural vehicle bias tyre factory, to be built with an investment of Rs 3.45 billion (£42.5 million). The expansion has an anticipated completion date of December 2009.

12th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin X MaxiTrailer Makes CV Show Debut

Michelin launched its new 255/60 R19.5 X MaxiTrailer at the 2008 Commercial Vehicle Show. Designed with vehicles like low loaders in mind, the new tyre reportedly takes up no more space than a 17.5-inch tyre despite have a 19.5-inch wheel rim diameter.

According to Michelin, the new MaxiTrailer tyre simultaneously enhances safety and productivity as it can be used with disc brakes, which reduce braking distances by up to five metres in comparison with drum brakes. In Michelin’s words, this marks a breakthrough in the tyre industry, since disc brakes traditionally operate at up to 40 degree higher temperatures than conventional drum brakes, making them unsuitable for operation with most 17.5-inch tyres.

6th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MRF Initials Greenfield Memorandum

Confirming news first reported in December 2007, on May 2 India’s MRF Ltd initialled a memorandum of understanding with the government of the state of Tamil Nadu for establishing a greenfield facility. This new factory, at Perambulur, will be the tyremaker’s third in the state. The memorandum was signed by company chairman and managing director K.M. Mammen and M.F. Farooqui, Tamil Nadu secretary to government for the Industries Department.

6th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear’s 400th OE Agri Tyre Approval

Goodyear’s farm and industrial tyre department has announced its 400th original equipment approval since 2003. All major farm and industrial machinery manufacturers, reports Goodyear, now sell their new machines originally equipped with tyres from the US tyre major. The list of agricultural vehicle manufacturers who have approved Goodyear Optitrac tyres includes major brands such as John Deere, Case New Holland, Fendt, Claas, Massey Fergusson, McCormick, Landini and BCS Ferrari.

6th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Debuts 4 Tyres at CV Show

2008 is shaping up to be a yet another year of growth for Hankook. The South Korean manufacturer arrived at the CV show armed with several new products, indicating it is indeed taking its plans to increase market share in the commercial sector very seriously. During the three days at the Birmingham NEC visitors had the opportunity to inspect no less than four brand new truck tyres, products Hankook says kick off a series of tyre launches planned for the remainder of the year.

An all-new low profile premium steer axle tyre, the size 295/80R22.5 AH22, headed the list of new products displayed by Hankook. Company representatives report that this tyre, which also serves as an all position fitment for coach and bus fleets, delivers excellent performance in both wet and dry conditions. In terms of the tyre’s durability Hankook points to its tread depth of 16mm as one of a number of features making the AH22 a genuinely robust choice of tyre for heavy vehicles that cover considerable distances. The tyre is also available in size 315/80R22.5.

6th May 2008/by Tyrepress Editors