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.
On 19 January 2023, Aeolus stated that Wang Feng resigned from the role of general manager due to work needs. However, while he has left that position, Wang Feng remains chairman of Aeolus. On 5 December 2022, Wang Feng was appointed as the chairman of China National Tire & Rubber Co., Ltd. (CNRC), the controlling shareholder of Aeolus
On 18 January, Sailun Group announced an 833-million-yuan (£99.63 million) investment to upgrade OTR tyre production at its plant in Qingdao, China. The upgrade will allow Sailun to produce OTR tyres in sizes up to and including 49-inch. The tyre maker intends to complete this upgrade and adjust its production portfolio within a period of ten months.
On 17 January, Sentury said it will adjust its financing plan through the stock market and specifically non-public offering of shares. After the adjustment, the tyre manufacturer will obtain no more than 2.8 billion yuan (about £330 million; 380 million euros), which is far lower than the 4 billion yuan (about £480 million; 540 million euros) proposed in the previous plan.
On 19 January, the European Commission extended anti-dumping duties on aluminium road wheels from China for a further five years. The extension follows an expiry review investigation, which showed that these wheels continue to be dumped on the EU market and that industry within the European Union would suffer significant harm if the measures were allowed to lapse.
As of January 2023, Agustin Pedroni has become general manager of Bridgestone (China) Investment Co. Ltd. Pedroni joined Bridgestone in Argentina in 1996 and worked in administration, sales and marketing roles in Argentina, Latin America and South America. Pedroni came to Bridgestone Asia Pacific in 2019 is the vice president of marketing and sales and was later promoted to the chief operating officer of the Asia Pacific region.
On 11 January 2023, Guizhou Tyre (also known as Advance Tyre) stated that it has terminated one of its recent tyre manufacturing projects before it got to the construction stage. Guizhou Tyre said its “3 million sets of high-performance all-steel radial tyres” a year construction project was closed down effective 31 December 2022.
The European Commission has provisionally recalculated anti-Chinese-produced truck tyre import tariffs to between €21.12 and €61.76 per tyre, equating to a reduction of between 0 and 51 per cent, depending on the manufacturer. Consultation on the provisional recalculation is now open until 23 January, before the final determination will be made on 25 January 2023.
With the relaxation of epidemic prevention and control policies, China has experienced a large-scale infection wave since early December. Many tyre factories have experienced or are experiencing worker shortages. The Lunar New Year in China is likely to see hundreds of millions of people to move around the country, leading to a more rapid spread of Covid-19. It is difficult to predict when China will shake off the epidemic’s impact; for the Chinese tyre industry, the current wave of infections is both a challenge and an opportunity.
Giti Tire has unveiled its first A-grade rolling resistance HGV tyres for the Chinese market with a new original equipment deal for the Mercedes-Benz Actros. The Giti GAR206 and Giti GDR207, in size 315/70R22.5, have been fitted at Daimler’s Beijing automobile plant since 23 September with the first deliveries reaching customers in November.
Construction sector media company KHL Group recently published the latest ICm20 listing of the world’s largest crane manufacturers in terms of US$ sales. Techking Tires points out that it partners with six of the top ten companies on this 2022 list.
Goodyear is investing US$200 million (about 1.37 billion yuan, £170 million, 190 million euros) in its Cooper Kun Shan tyre factory. Following the latest investment, the total investment of the Cooper Kun Shan plant is expected to reach $500 million (about 3.42 billion yuan, £410 million, 470 million euros).
Luo Yongli, deputy general manager of the company, recently told a briefing that he is optimistic about the operation of Cheng Shin in 2023. In the past, Cheng Shin has reportedly significantly reduced capital expenditures to combat adversity in the operating environment. But with the overall situation expected to improve, the tyre maker will start expanding production capacity, including launching a 40 million tyre capacity expansion plan at factories in mainland China.
In 2022, several significant events took place in China’s tyre industry. These things had a profound impact on the tyre industry not only in 2022, but for a long time.
The Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) has a new sales manager for agricultural tyres in Europe. Mark Turner has taken on the role of European sales director agricultural tyres.
On 28 December 2022, the Customs Tariff Commission of China’s State Council issued an announcement stating that from 1 January 2023, import tariffs on some commodities will be adjusted. In 2023, the products that can still enjoy preferential tariffs are retreaded tyres for aircraft. As in the previous year, such products will be subject to a provisional import duty of 4 per cent. Under normal circumstances, Chinese customs should impose a 20 per cent tariff on retreaded tyres for aircraft.
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Fengshen
Sentury
Bridgestone
Guizhou Tyre
S. Hermann & F. Richter; Pixabay
Kelly Sikkema; Unsplash
Giti Tire
Cooper
Cheng Shin
Maxam Tire International