China Archives - Page 163 of 240 - Tyrepress

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.

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Dunlop Aircraft Appoints China Plant Head

Dunlop Taikoo (Jinjiang) Aircraft Tyres Company has appointed KK Chan as general manager of its new aircraft retreading and new tyre distribution facility in China. The company is a joint venture with Birmingham-based Dunlop Aircraft Tyres, HAECO (Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company) and TAECO (Taikoo (Xiamen) Aircraft Engineering Company). Based in Jinjiang, Fujian Province, the company’s new facility is already distributing new tyres throughout the Asia Pacific region and is reportedly going through the approvals process to start retreading.

19th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GITI Eyeing European OE Business

In order to strengthen its place in the lucrative European replacement market, and with a view to positioning itself for OE contracts, GITI Tire has invested significantly in the expansion of both the company’s main R&D centre in China and the development of a world-class European Technical Centre (ETC). The ETC is based at the renowned MIRA Ltd. facility near Birmingham in the UK where company representatives emphasised that they are already making thorough use of state of the art test facilities a highly experienced test engineers.

For the team, which is led by experienced tyre R&D expert Eddie Young, the first step was to undertake an extensive benchmark programme in order to gain a full understanding of the main competitor’s current performance levels and strengths and weaknesses with the clear objective of designing and engineering GITI products to reach and even surpass these premium competitor’s performance levels. And when you consider that the global R&D is both international in its representation and comprised of technicians who have previously worked at the highest levels of leading tyre brands, you can understand why the bar has been set so high.

19th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

TRW Opens China Test Facility

TRW Automotive Holdings has announced the opening of a new test track in Heihe, northern China. Work at the site began in 2006 and TRW states that during the last three years a “significant investment” has been made in the facility. The track specialises in winter testing and includes a variety of track surfaces designed to test active safety systems such as advanced braking and steering systems and integrated vehicle control and driver assist technologies. According to TRW, the opening of the test track, which is to receive support from the company’s Shanghai technical centre engineers, completes its footprint to locally engineer products and applications for China-based customers.

18th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Centurion Names New Distributor

Aurora Parts & Accessories, with 400 dealers in its network, has been named a master dealer for Centurion Wheel Manufacturing. Centurion produces wheels for trucks and trailers at produced at factories in China. “We are excited by the prospects afforded by Aurora Parts’ long-established relationships with many leading trailer manufacturers and by its exceptional reputation as a supplier of premium-quality parts,” said Doug Ginder, vice president of Sales at Centurion. “Centurion’s footprint becomes broader as Aurora Parts joins forces with us, providing greater access to the Centurion product line anywhere in the country.”

Aurora Parts is the exclusive distributor of aftermarket semi-trailer parts for Wabash National, Transcraft, Fruehauf, Lufkin and is a supplier of Hyundai Translead parts.

15th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodway Reports Full-Year 2008 Loss

Goodway Integrated Industries Bhd registered 12,559 million Malaysian ringgits of pre-tax loss in the year ended 31 December 2008, compared with 6,702 million ringgits of pre-tax profits in 2007. Chief operating officer Alison Wong Ping Kiong told Malaysian Insider: “It was difficult for us to pass down the cost to customers as the prices fluctuated so much that by the time we price in the extra cost, the rubber prices increased again and vice-versa.” Wong said 75 per cent of the company’s revenue were derived from rubber compound while the remaining 25 per cent came from tyre retreading focused in the local market.

11th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Retreading Volumes to Grow 30% This Year – CRI

International News, Retreading

According to Shanghai based research company China Research and Intelligence (CRI), increased vehicle numbers are causing scrap tyre levels in China to grow at a rate of 10 to 20 per cent per annum. Last year, CRI reports, more than 200 million tyres in China reached the end of their useful lifespan, yet only 11.5 million were retreaded.

5th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Manufacturers Prepare to Fight USW Trade Case

Chinese tyre manufacturers and exporters are said to be preparing a response to the USW trade case against their products. The China Daily reports that they are receiving assistance from China’s Ministry of Commerce and from local industry associations in their quest to combat was is viewed as a discriminative case and a trade protectionism tool.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has agreed to look into the case, making it the seventh and to-date largest (in terms of volume) subsidy related investigation the US has conducted against China.

5th May 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bond International Developing a Stronger Foothold in Asia

As a major importer of far eastern manufactured tyres, Bond International’s presence at Tyrexpo Asia was significant. The company, which has been established for more than forty years, has acquired during its time in the business vast experience in the import and export of tyres to and from the UK. Today Bond International can provide unrivalled delivery service thanks to its four warehouses and stock level of over 600,000 tyres. As well as distributing all leading premium brand tyres the company is also the agent for Marshal, Admiral, Infinity, Sumo, Firenza, Rotalla and Gerutti.

30th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Sales 14.2% Down in First Quarter

To call what we have experienced in the first quarter of 2009 a bear market would be something of an understatement. And while in such ursine conditions the 14.2 per cent drop in net sales reported by Michelin is by no means any worse a performance than that experienced throughout the tyre industry, it is safe to say the French manufacturer is eagerly awaiting the next hibernation season.

Group net sales for the three months to March 31 totalled 3.512 billion euros, of which the greatest chunk – 1.946 billion euros – came from the sale of passenger and light truck tyres. Truck tyres accounted for a further 1.006 billion euros, and the company’s specialty tyre business the remaining 561 million euros. All of these segments experienced a year-on-year decline in sales during the quarter; sales of truck tyres, in terms of income, declined 24.2 per cent.

29th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

GPX Reports an “Enormous” Sales Increase

According to GPX International Tire – one of the world’s leading industrial and agricultural tyre specialists – the company has recently particularly focused upon its presence in Asian markets, and executive vice president Neil Ganz reports “a huge growth in sales” has taken place there. As a result the company chose to once again exhibit at Singapore’s Tyrexpo Asia in order to further expand the growing customer relationships forged in this part of the world.

23rd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Belshina Focusing on International Growth

Since Belshina opened its first sales office outside of the CIS region, in Lithuania, a year and a half ago, the Belarusian commercial vehicle tyre specialist has looked towards establishing itself in even more regions. One particular area where Belshina has turned its attention is Southeast Asia, where the company is focusing upon the distribution of its earthmover tyre range. At Tyrexpo Asia the director of Belshina Asia, Maksim Smyslov, shared that the Belarusian manufacturer founded a new Singapore based operation in November 2007. It has been trading since last year and is focusing for the time being upon the earthmover tyre business, marketing these products to the region’s mines and mining operators.

22nd April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

USW Files Trade Case Against Chinese Imports

According to statistics published by the United Steelworkers, between 2004 and 2008 the volume of tyres imported from China increased 215 per cent, and the value of these imports by 295 per cent. During this same period US tyre production declined by more than a quarter and the domestic industry’s share of the US tyre market dropped from 63 per cent to less than half. These figures represent conditions in a relatively robust period for the industry – since the second half of 2008 the market has shrivelled considerably, and US based tyre producers are feeling the pinch more than ever. For this reason the USW has filed a major trade case against, in its own words, “the flood of imported consumer tyres from China that have led to thousands of job losses and a growing number of plant closings throughout the US.”

21st April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Boto Tyre to Build New Passenger Car Radial Factory

Shandong Wanda Boto Tyre Co., Ltd., has revealed plans to build a passenger car production facility nearby its existing tyre manufacturing complex in China. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories company representatives explained how, despite the ongoing economic downturn, Boto Tyre's board and shareholders are confident that they can sell the up to 15 million passenger car radials the new plant is scheduled to produce. Around 1 billion yuan is believed to have been earmarked for the expansion and building work is set to begin in June, with the construction project expected to conclude by the end of the year. As vice director of international trade development, Rainbow Zhao told T&A “building projects don't take very long in China.”

21st April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Providing Integrated Solutions

During the planning of a factory’s layout and manufacturing processes, the integration of process automation solutions and software at an early stage maximises cost and time savings for the customer. Rockwell Automation, a global leader in the supply of industrial automation power control and information solutions, is collaborating with German company TTC (Technical Tire Consulting) in order to do just that – deliver reduced integration costs, optimised capacity availability, safe product quality and ensured traceability. When Tyres & Accessories met with representatives from both companies during February’s Tire Technology Hamburg exhibition, they explained exactly how tyre industry customers stand to benefit.

21st April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

China Provides Optimistic Rubber Counterpoint

China has increased its rubber imports from 180,000 tonnes in the first two months of 2009 to 190,000 in March, Bloomberg has today reported. A rise of 10 per cent in automobile sales year-on-year (according to figures from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers) has led to the rise following government subsidies. Incentives to the industry Japan, Germany and France are also offering incentives.

Bloomberg suggests that any revival in rubber demand from recovering car sales may be mitigated as tyre-makers switch to cheaper oil-based alternatives. The mix of synthetic to natural rubber in tyres is roughly 60 to 40 per cent, said Lawrence Orlowski, an analyst at S&P Equity Services in New York. Usually about 5 to 10 per cent of a tyre’s material can be switched, he said. (Tire Review/Akron)

20th April 2009/by Tyrepress Editors