China Archives - Page 174 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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Rösler Group to be a “Total EM Tyre Management System Provider”

The path of development follows a natural course and is absolutely logical: First the Rösler group covered all facets of earthmover tyre retreading, then entered the original equipment market with the “Winstone” brand of new tyres – and now the company has taken the final step in regard to its range of products and services for mine and opencast pit end users. The company is already on target on its “way to being a Total EM Tyre Management System Provider,” says Klaus Mühlbäck, international business Vice President for ‘Rösler Tyre Innovators’; a company title that made its debut several months ago at the Essen tyre show.

28th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Automechanika 2008 Already Breaking Records

A record breaking 1,600 exhibitors have already confirmed to attend the fourth Automechanika Shanghai show to be held in Shanghai, China from Dec. 10-12, 2008. Hall space at the Shanghai New International Expo Center will increase 80% to 92,000 square meters, compared to last year’s 51,000 sqm. The show is also the world’s second largest Automechanika after Automechanika Frankfurt, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in September. Altogether, there are 13 Automechanika trade shows around the world.

“With more than 1,600 exhibitors from 17 countries for Shanghai we have already surpassed our 2007 figure of 1,250 exhibitors,” said Fiona Chiew, group manager of trade fairs for Messe Frankfurt Hong Kong. We expect a final figure of 1,800 exhibitors, spread over eight halls and more than 30,000 visitors for the show this year. This reflects the tremendous interest in China’s automobile industry and its automotive parts, equipment and service supplier sector.”

In line with the Automechanika global brand format, a complete range of products from low to high-end and basic to hi-tech will be displayed in five categories: Parts Systems, Accessories Tuning, Repair Maintenance, IT Management, and Service Station Car Wash. (Tire Review/Akron)

28th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

GPX Sells Rumaguma Factory to CGS

Industrial, OTR and specialty tyre manufacturer GPX International Tire Corporation reports it has reached an agreement with CGS of the Czech Republic for the sale of GPX’s Rumaguma tyre manufacturing facility in Serbia. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of September 2008 pending approval by the Serbian anti-trust authorities.

CGS is one of Europe’s largest agricultural tyre producers and manufactures these products under the Continental and Semperit brand names. Rumaguma has been producing tyres for CGS for many years and is currently the facility’s largest customer. As a result, CGS is well acquainted with the factory and the quality of the product produced at Rumaguma.

27th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Mountain Bikers Ride Maxxis to World Championship Wins

MMA Maxxis sponsored downhill mountain bikers Gee and Rachel Atherton returned from the UCI Mountain Bike World Championships in Trentino, Italy, with Britain’s first ever gold medals, and also became the first siblings to take two mountain bike world titles in the same year.

Twenty year old Rachel is the new Women’s World Downhill Champion after mastering the hot, dry conditions and super technical track and seeing off the challenge of outgoing champion, France’s Sabine Jonnier. Fresh from victory in the Mountain Bike World Cup in Andorra, Rachel crossed the line an astonishing 11.99 seconds ahead of her main rival in one of the biggest ever winning margins in World Championships history, following up her 2006 Junior World Championship in style.

21st August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper to Free Up Domestic Capacity with China Imports

According to reports, Cooper Tire expects to receive around 2.5 million tyres from its Cooper Chengshan Tire facility in China during 2008. The total phase one capacity of the plant is 6.5 million units, and Cooper is planning an expansion of over two million tyres.

21st August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Reiff Adds GT Radial to Retreading Program

Reiff Reifen operates a state of the art retreading facility in the German town of Reutlingen. This Bandag franchise operation retreads in excess of 40,000 truck tyres each year, all of which are subjected to strict quality control measures. All casings are inspected with a SDS shearography machine that can detect any minor internal separation, and all inspection data is recorded on the company’s mainframe. Tyre building is performed using a Bandag-AZ builder extruder and curing is carried out in four completely new installed Bandag electrical autoclaves. Reiff operates to ISO 9000 standard and contracts TÜV Automotive in Munich to endurance test its retreaded tyres to confirm compliance with ECE 109 regulation requirements.

21st August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan Tire Welcomes Anti-Dumping Determinations

Titan Tire Corporation says it welcomes news of the ‘affirmative injury’ determinations issued on August 15 by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) regarding the antidumping and countervailing duty investigations concerning off-the-road (OTR) tyres from China. By a vote of 5 to 1, the ITC ruled that these OTR tyre imports from China were causing material injury to US industry.

18th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Partners Chinese Gymnast in Shoe Deal

Playing a starring role at the Olympics opening ceremony meant a $30 million payout for former Chinese gymnast Li Ning. Investors reportedly snapped up shares in his Hong Kong-listed sportswear firm, Li Ning Co. Ltd., hoping that global recognition would follow the spectacle of the opening ceremony. However, tyre experts may be interested to learn taht Li-Ning Co. announced recently signed a tie up with Michelin to start technical cooperation to produce high-performance sports shoes.

18th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

ITC Finalizes Anti-Dumping Ruling Against Chinese

The International Trade Commission affirmed a previous ruling by the Commerce Department, voting 5-1 to place anti-dumping and countervailing duties on certain OTR tyres imported from China. It was the final step in a year-long investigation by the U.S. into complaints filed by Titan International and the United Steelworkers. The final duty and penalty amounts will be posted by the Commerce Department later this year but are expected to follow its previous schedule.

The USW union cheered the result. “Today’s decision proves China cheats and that U.S. trade law enforcement is an important tool that will help level the playing field for U.S. workers by requiring Chinese tire imports to be priced fairly,” said USW President Leo Gerard. “This case shows the importance of vigorous enforcement of our trade laws as a first line of defense against unfair trade practices that harm American industries and jobs.”

18th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

With Chinese input Prices on the Up Could there be a Retread Renaissance?

International News, Retreading

Raw material price increases affect every part of the tyre production and distribution chain. At the moment all the new tyre manufacturers (from the largest to the smallest) are feeling the raw materials pinch, which has been reflected in a run of less profitable financial reports. Even the Chinese manufacturers that were able to offer the “economic option” for so long are being forced to restructure their prices. Prior to this the low price of new Chinese made truck and bus radials had been hindering sales of quality retreads, so now that the price differential appears to swinging back against the Far Eastern budget producers, will this provide the opportunity for a resurgence in retread sales?

Take Qingdao, Shandong province-based Aufine Group Co Ltd. In August Tyres & Accessories received notification that the company was bringing in a second “unfortunate” price increase in three months, brought on by the “not small” (23 per cent) increase in Aufine’s natural rubber costs. The fact that the Chinese government clamped down on production in regions adjacent to Qingdao during the last quarter has also affected the distribution of these products. Furthermore, in addition to pressures mentioned above, the supply of Chinese tyres is also described as “inconsistent” since the pound’s value has fallen against the Euro. As a result Chinese manufacturers are increasingly ‘cherry-picking’ sales in the most lucrative international markets.

15th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Amidst Rumors, Double Coin Chairman Ousted

Fan Xian has been replaced as chairman of Double Coin Holdings, one of China’s largest tyremakers and parent of China Manufacturers Alliance in the US. There have been a number of unconfirmed reports out of China that Fan had been “detained” and is under investigation by the government for unspecified reasons.

Liu Xunfeng was appointed to replace Fan, effective August 6, by the Shanghai Huayi Group, a government body that owns a 60 per cent share of Double Coin Holdings. Fan also served as vice president of Shanghai Huayi Group, and was replaced in that capacity, as well. Yue Chun Chen, general manager of Double Coin and president of its Shanghai radial truck tyre plant, will continue to manage the day-to-day affairs of the company and its global tire subsidiaries.

14th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Foundation to Study Eco-Tyres With Shandong University

The Silvio Tronchetti Provera Foundation and the University of Shandong in Jinan (China) have signed a research agreement that will see the two parties cooperate on research into “the new generation of ecological tyres.” University researchers will work together with Pirelli Group’s R&D department in China with a view to producing advanced low rolling resistance tyres. Pirelli Group has been involved low rolling resistance research for some culminating in the production of “eco-compatible” products such as the new “Cinturato”, presented in Europe at the beginning of 2008.

The Italian-Chinese agreement also includes two joint research initiatives, which aim respectively at realizing more consistent compound mixtures and the study of low-temperature tyre vulcanization.

14th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Tyre Production Up 14.8% in July

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, tyre production across the country in July grew 14.8 per cent over last year, to a total of 49.67 million units. The Bureau’s statistics, reported by Dow Jones, also include figures for synthetic rubber production, which rose 27.7 per cent in July to 194,000 tonnes.

During the months of January to July 2008, tyre production rose 13.5 per cent year on year to 329.32 million units, while synthetic rubber output totalled 1.25 million tones, an increase of 12.2 per cent.

14th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

China Tyre Output Growth Slows

China’s tyre industry, now the world’s largest, is tipped to experience slowing growth in the first half of the year as exports begin feeling the affect of a global economic slowdown. This sober outlook was given by the China Rubber Industry Association, which added that profit margins have been eaten away by raw material costs.

13th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dunlop Aircraft Workers Back in China After Birmingham Training

The first new recruits at Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ new China retreading operation have travelled back to the People’s Republic after completing a training course in Birmingham. The China-based team, including six tyre production workers and a supervisor, completed the six-month course in preparation for the opening of the Dunlop Aircraft Tyres’ new Jinjiang facility.

13th August 2008/by Tyrepress Editors