CEAT Ltd.
JK Tyre & Industries is not the only Indian tyre maker that has announced it will invest to increase production capacity; RPG company Ceat Limited says it will expand radio production at its Halol plant in GujaratState. A total of Rs 6.5 billion (£65.7 million) will be invested in the project.
India’s RPG Enterprises, parent company of Ceat Ltd, shares that the tyre maker aims to become one of the most profitable firms within the domestic market. Comments made by Ceat managing director Anant Goenka to this effect during an interview with local motoring journal Motown India were published on RPG’s website on 25 July.
The organiser of the Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo reports that numerous well-known industry names have committed to exhibiting at this year’s show. Companies making an appearance on the exhibitor list include Sailun Tires, Triangle Tyre, Cooper Tire, Continental Tire Mexico, Bridgestone Tire Costa Rica, Goodyear Central America, Sumitomo Rubber Latin America Ltda., Double Coin Latin America, Euromaster, S.A. / Michelin, GT Radial Tires, Titan Tire Corp., TBC International, CEAT Limited, BKT and Aeolus.
The All India Tyre Dealers' Federation (AITDF) has approached the country’s Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT), a body that handles appeals against any decision made or order passed by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), regarding the clean bill of health the CCI gave tyre makers when it investigated cartelisation claims. Last October the CCI found no evidence of cartelisation in the tyre industry, and thus dismissed a complaint filed by the AITDF. The manufacturers in question, Apollo Tyres, MRF, JK Tyre, Ceat and Birla Tyres, along with the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers' Association, faced no penalty. These five manufacturers are said to control 95 per cent of India’s domestic tyre market.
India’s Ceat Ltd will start manufacturing tyres in Bangladesh as of next year through a joint venture operation with Bangladesh-based business conglomerate AK Khan & Co Ltd. The tyre maker will hold a 70 per cent share in the new company, Ceat AK Khan Bangladesh Ltd, with AK Khan & Co. possessing the remainder. Ceat AK Khan Bangladesh will produce cross-ply truck, light commercial vehicle and motorcycle tyres for the domestic market. The joint venture has been set up with an initial investment of US$67 million and will have a 110 tonne per day capacity when production commences. Around 1,000 people are expected to be employed in the new company.
“People in this world will always eat bread and rice,“ an agricultural tyre supplier said some years ago while participating in a panel of experts. However, it isn’t just the passenger car and truck tyre businesses that are vulnerable to negative conditions; the year following the Lehman collapse, 2009, showed that the agricultural tyre business was by no means recession proof. Investments in farming equipment and in tyres for these machines collapsed, however even back then it was clear that the market must bounce back at some stage as people will always need to eat. And that applies around the world, not just here. Because global populations are on the rise – we’ve already passed the seven billion mark – there is a corresponding increasing need for foodstuffs to be grown. Agriculture is a growth industry.
The Hindu Business Line reports that faling rubber prices in India led to shares in India’s major tyre makers rising up to five per cent earlier this week. The newspaper stated on 5 December that Apollo Tyres, MRF, JK Tyre and Ceat were amongst those to gain, and MRF stock hit an all-time high of Rs 11,892 (£135.32) on the Bombay Stock Exchange.
Eastman Industries Limited was present at CITExpo with its ‘Addo India’ tyre and battery brand. The company, which is headquartered in Ludhiana, in India’s Punjab state, produces and supplies a wide range of passenger car, truck, industrial OTR and agricultural tyres.
Tyrexpo Asia 2013 has smashed through the 150-exhibitor milestone; with six months still to go before opening day, the biennial event is now 90 per cent full, an unprecedented position in the show’s 16-year history. Event organiser ECI International also reports the presence of “heavyweight” domestic Singaporean, Malaysian, Indonesian and Chinese exhibitors, plus interest from a large number of Indian, European and US suppliers.
Organisers of the recently concluded Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo have hailed it as a “great success”. This year more than 3000 tyre dealers are said to have visited from over 80 countries. More than 200 exhibitors from around the world participated in the expo.
India’s Ceat Tyres has posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 290 million (£3.3 million) for the quarter ending 30 June. Net sales increased to Rs 12.2 billion (£139.9 million) during the three-month period. “Despite relatively weak market conditions due to lower OEM demand, rising fuel costs and depressed economic sentiments locally as well as globally, we managed to close the first quarter of this fiscal year on a positive note,” commented Ceat managing director Anant Goenka. “We will continue to focus on improving our product mix and operational efficiencies. In FY13, our priorities will be to ramp up our radial plant at Halol to full capacity, strengthen the brand and expand internationally.”
Ceat Ltd says it has “aggressive growth plans” for its Indian retail network, and as part of this the tyre maker opened its first outlet in the country’s largest city yesterday. The first Ceat Shoppe to enter operation in Mumbai was officially inaugurated by controversial politician Abu Azmi, Maharashtra Samajwadi Party state president, along with Ceat executive director Arnab Banerjee.
Alongside the agricultural and off-road tyres it is well known for in Europe, at Reifen 2012 Indian manufacturer Ceat showed off its passenger car tyre range – a line-up it intends to bring to Europe in the very near future. “At Reifen we are firstly promoting our truck and bus radial and passenger car tyre lines,” Trilok C Goel, Ceat’s executive director of specialty tyres and business development, commented to Tyres & Accessories. “We are already quite strong in agri in Europe.”
The second staging of Tyrexpo India in Chennai next year will see the event tackle the topical issue of the increased radialisation of truck and bus tyres in India, event organiser ECI International says. The company says it is to reflect this in the structure and content of the three-day exhibition. “Indian and international tyre manufacturers are making huge investments in new production capacity for TBR radials for the domestic market,” says Paul Farrant, managing director of ECI International. “We want to reflect that dynamic trend at Tyrexpo India by creating a focus on truck tyre manufacturing, with tyre makers, technology experts, materials suppliers and service providers making a contribution to the show.”
The Latin American & Caribbean Tyre Expo 2012 has reported an increase in its exhibitor list by 60 per cent, with the addition of two new halls to the existing space at the Atlapa Convention Center in Panama. The four-day show and conference will celebrate its third anniversary when it opens on July 25, 2012, with over 160 exhibitors signed up thus far, including Bridgestone, Triangle, Double Coin, JK Tornel, Titan International, CEAT, and “platinum sponsor”, Sailun Tire. “Our vision is to bring global manufacturers and suppliers directly to the Latin markets and to get the Latin dealers to those manufacturers in a familiar venue,” said show director, Linda Bassitt.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
