Now one of the largest tyre-producing countries in the world, China has an indisputable influence on the direction of global tyre trade. The home of both fast-growing up-and-coming brands as well as a burgeoning domestic market, this tag chronicles China’s involvement with the tyre business.
China tyre manufacturer Techking reports that it is successfully supplying a customer in Japan in conjunction with a local partner. Together the two companies have reportedly supplied the unnamed Japanese customer with Techking 16.00 R25 ETADT tyres, complete with service support.
Ugo Forner, senior vice president of Pirelli’s truck business unit, shares an insight into a sector of the world’s fifth largest tyre maker that is sometimes concealed in the shadow of the company’s sporting ambitions (such as Formula 1) and its positioning as a leading high performance passenger car tyre brand. This sector is of course commercial vehicle tyres, a business in which Pirelli has a presence in many markets around the world, including South America, where it is market leader; indeed, the region is considered the company’s “cash cow”.
The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) reports that Q1 2012 Production Growth is expected to marginally increase by 0.3 per cent. During 2011ANRPC's total production rose 6.7 per cent to 10.127 million tons, faster than the 6.4 per cent rate expected until a month ago. The upward revision results from a better-than-expected output from Vietnam for the year. The country produced 811,600 tons of NR in 2011 as against 780,000 tons as anticipated earlier and 751,700 tons produced in the year before.
The third China (Guangrao) International Rubber Tire & Auto Accessory Exhibition will be held in Guangrao International Exhibition Center in Shandong Province in China on between 15 and 17 May 2012. According to the show’s organisers, preparations related to investment and promotional work are currently in progress.
In 2012 Aeolus Tyres will enter the European passenger car tyre market in partnership with Netherlands-based Heuver Tyrewholesale. Although Aeolus will be entering the passenger car market for the first time, the company reports that it was certainly not an overnight decision to do so. A whole new factory has been built in China and an international team of experienced tyre specialists is being used to develop the tyres. In addition Heuver reports that it is providing “frequent technical input,” to enable it to fulfil the requirements of the European market as well as possible.
Going against a trend witnessed in the tyre industry over recent years, Carlisle Companies says it will transfer tyre production from China over to the United States – for cost reasons. At the company’s forth quarter 2011 conference call on 2 February, Carlisle Companies chairman, president and CEO David Roberts reported positive developments regarding efficiency levels at the company’s Jackson, Tennessee tyre making facility and then shared plans to make US production a greater priority.
Increasing numbers of vehicles on Indian roads will drive the Indian replacement tyre market past the 305 billion rupee (£4 billion, 4.8 billion, US$6 billion) value level, according to research conducted by TechSci research.
Federal and Goodride tyre brands are available exclusively through independent tyre wholesaler, Grouptyre in the UK, and the distributor provides full ranges of both to light commercial vehicle operators. Taiwan-manufactured Federal tyres offer three major models designed to cover the everyday workload of most light commercial drivers.
China’s Keyuan Petrochemicals has announced that one of the production lines for Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) at its new plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, has commenced commercial production. Keyuan conducted tests on the line in the final quarter of last year following completion of its new 70,000 tonne SBS production facility in September 2011. The first line entered commercial production in December and the company says that during the quarter it produced 2,733 tonnes and sold 2,623 tonnes of the substance used by tyre makers.
A new Infinity range is scheduled for release later this year. The tyre maker has disclosed little about the asymmetric pattern high performance, UHP, 4×4 and van line-up, however Jorge Crespo, European general manager for Infinity Tyres, reports it will be unveiled to dealers at the Infinity Partners Day in Beijing, China at the start of May before its first public showing at June’s Reifen 2012 show in Germany.
AM Bromley has launched TMS Log Graph and enhanced TMS Internal Sensors for its Tire Monitor System for off the road vehicles. Manufactured independently by AM Bromley, the TMS System provides visible, real-time data to drivers and managers to help them return the best value on their outlay on tyres. The initial TMS range launched in 2005 and the company says it is now used by thousands of OTR vehicles across the world, with a “surge of interest from developing regions including India and China”.
Toyo Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. has agreed to establish a China-based joint venture company to manufacture and distribute urethane seat cushions for transportation machinery. The agreement was signed with Guangdong TGPM Automotive Industry Group Co., Ltd., headquartered in Foshan City, Guangdong Province.
In his 24 January State of the Union address, US President Barack Obama claimed the country’s trade cases against China have made a difference. Singling out a particular sector, Obama said “over a thousand Americans are working today because we stopped a surge in Chinese tyres.” Words that should, on the face of it, bring cheer to the US tyre industry.
Toyo Tire & Rubber has established a new company in Thailand to manufacture and distribute a distinctly non-tyre product. The new business, Toyo Rubber Chemical Products (Thailand) Limited, has been established in order to manufacture and distribute cleaning blades, which are components used in office equipment such as photocopiers, printers and fax machines. The new company is to be part of Toyo’s Urethane Business Unit.
According to Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries estimates, in 2012 China will produce some 750,000 tonnes of natural rubber, an increase of around six per cent on last year. Yet during the same period the country is expected to consume 3,610,000 tonnes of the commodity. To help meet this huge demand for imported natural rubber, China’s Hainan Natural Rubber Industry Group has signed an agreement with Sierra Leone, a deal expected to be the largest agricultural investment in the West African country’s history.
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