China Archives - Page 225 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.

Posts

Lanxess Announces Chinese Tyre Joint Venture

Lanxess has announced that it is strengthening its position in the Chinese tyre market by entering into a joint venture with Anhui Tongfeng Electronic Co Ltd. The agreement will see the company produce rubber antioxidants for the tyre industry and is due to come on stream in the second half of next year, said Martin Wienkenhoever, a member of Lanxess’ board of management. “At present due to the [World Trade Organization] we see that the American and European market is shifting to China,” he said. “Some of (the investment) is a also going to India, Vietnam and other countries – but the mainstream companies are still going into China and the lower-end manufacturing is going to other destinations, but we are not so active in that.”

12th July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

T&A Partners With Tyrexpo Asia Again

“Today southeast Asia and China host some of the fastest growing markets in the world. So having a tyre exhibition in Singapore is an ideal combination,” says Klaus Haddenbrock.

The publisher and chief editor of Tyres & Accessories, and its German sister magazine Neue Reifenzeitung, is confident that this year’s Tyrexpo Asia will be a complete success and the number of exhibitors and visitors will increase strongly.

For him the region is much more than just a “cheap production platform” and the tyre business will continue to be bullish in the future. “Its not only Western manufacturers that are looking for new markets in which to sell their products, so do their Eastern counterparts,” he adds.

The 2005 show will be the fifth time Tyres & Accessories has supported Tyrexpo Asia. Once again, T&A is the show’s exclusive European media partner. Organised by East Sussex-based ECI International, Tyrexpo Asia will be held at the Singapore Expo Centre from 13 – 15 September 2005. T&A will be on stand H 14.

7th July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

ContiTech Starts New Chinese Production Line

Shanxi-Phoenix Conveyor Belt Systems Co Ltd has launched a new production line in Changzhi, Shanxi province, China. Gerhard Lerch chairman of ContiTech AG, which has owned Phoenix since the end of 2004, inaugurated the new production facility for heavy-duty conveyor belts. The new line will be used to manufacture heavy-duty steel-cable conveyor belts for surface and underground mining. Belts produced at this facility are capable of satisfying extremely tough quality standards, and especially those required by the numerous coalmines. The belts will also be installed in storage and handling facilities at ports.

7th July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear to Boost Chinese Investment

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co is to increase investment at its plant in northeast China by more than 10 per cent between now and 2007. The move is designed to offset rising raw material costs, by increasing the production of premium products, according to the company’s Asia Pacific president, Pierre Cohade. Goodyear hopes to profit by sales of replacement tyres, which now account for about half of China’s tyre market and are growing “sizeably” as Chinese drivers buy new tyres, Mr Cohade told Reuters.

6th July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Cabot Further Expands Chinese Carbon Production

Cabot Corporation has announced that it will build a new specialty carbon black unit at its plant in the Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Area (TEDA) in China. Cabot Performance Products (Tianjin), a joint venture with Shanghai Coking Chemical Company, will invest nearly $30 million in building the special unit that is set to have a capacity of approximately 20,000 tonnes. The unit is scheduled to begin production in the second half of 2006.

1st July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Opens Chinese Sealant and Hose Assembly Plants

Yokohama subsidiaries, Yokohama Hamatite, a passenger car sealants supplier, and Yokohama Hoses & Coupling have held a joint opening ceremony of their new Chinese factories. Yokohama Hoses & Coupling (Hangzhou) will start by assembling 2,500 hoses monthly, raising output 10,000 units monthly through 2008. The capital investment for equipment and facilities will total $350,000, the company reports.

1st July 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Plans R&D/HQ Centre in Tianjin

(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Tire Co said it is investing some $20 million to establish a research and development centre in Tianjin, China, a facility that will evolve into the company’s Tianjin Kumho Tire Co Ltd headquarters. The research and development facility will employ some 300 scientists and engineers, said Kumho.

Tianjin Kumho Tire Co’s new $185 million radial passenger tyre plant is set to begin production in July 2006 with an initial capacity of 5.25 million tyres per year. Plans have already been made for a $130 million expansion there that will bring capacity to 10.4 million units per year. The tyre plant will service Chinese automakers.

27th June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Natural Rubber Prices Continue Upward Climb

(Akron/Tire Review) By 7 June, natural rubber prices had risen to a 12-month high of $3.12 a pound on the Tokyo Commodities Exchange. Tyre output in China rose 27 per cent, to 239 million units last year, and the country’s tyre exports nearly doubled, to 34.8 million units.

At the same time global manufacturers continue to purchase more natural rubber as its synthetic counterpart becomes more costly, according to experts monitoring the data. Data reported by Bloomberg, for example, indicates that US Gulf spot prices for butadiene, the petrochemical used to make synthetic rubber, have risen 93 per cent, to 57 cents a pound over the past year.

23rd June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Schedule Outlined For A1 Grand Prix

(Akron/Tire Review) The new A1 Grand Prix has released a 12-race schedule that features races in Europe, Southeast Asia, Africa and South and North America. All cars running in the A1 Grand Prix series will race on Cooper tyres produced by Avon racing. The series kicks off at Brands Hatch on the 25 September and then will continue with races at Lausitzring in Germany on 9 October and at Estoril in Portugal on 23 October.

23rd June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

A Market of Opportunities

In many respects the UK’s geographical position, being part of continental Europe while separated and independent of the mainland, reflects the British Isles’ position in the wider European market place.

In the latest of our series of special reports on influential and emerging markets (which has covered China, India and Russia) Tyres & Accessories has looked a little closer to home. The latest supplement focuses on what drives the UK market, while reviewing the current state of UK tyre manufacturing. In addition, while rumours abound about the future of Kwik-Fit as an independent chain, the supplement also asks: “Is there a place for both chained and independent retailers in the UK?”

Subscribers can download the complete report as a PDF file in the subscribers' area.

16th June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Expands Production In Shenyang

Groupe Michelin is to invest $170 million in expanding production in Shenyang, China. The Asia Pulse news agency has reported that the group will invest this sum in the Shenyang Economic & Technology Development Zone, in order to add another 156,820 square metres to the land it already owns. A memorandum of understanding signed by Michelin and the zone explains that the company plans to use this land to increase its truck tyre production capacity.

15th June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Galaxy and Dynamic to Merge Forming GPX

Galaxy Tire & Wheel and Dynamic Tire Corp have agreed to merge. As a result a new company, GPX Tyre & Wheel, will be formed. According to an official statement the new company is expected to record sales of more than $300 million in 2005 and holds assets in excess of $100 million. “The will provide the solid foundation and critical mass necessary for GPX Tire & Wheel to become one of the leading global players in the agricultural, industrial, commercial and off-the-road tyre markets,” the statement says. For the time being the two companies will operate in parallel as separate entities. The merger is expected to be completed by the end of this calender year.

14th June 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Jiang Xi Federal Tire Doubles Capacity

Federal Tire’s subsidiary in Jiang Xi, China (JFT) will invest $30 million into equipment and people to double annual capacity to 5 million units a year, by the end of 2005. According to the company the investment is required due to an increase in demand for its tyres.

The majority of the investment will go towards the purchase of curing presses, tyre building, uniformity inspection equipment and mixers as JFT increases the size of its current tyres and finalises plans for new additions to its product line. JFT manufactures a range of Hero and Federal brand tyres including UHP, PCR, SUV, light truck.

31st May 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Bekaert Ups External Investment

Bekaert has put in a bid to take over the ECC card clothing division of Carclo, which deals in plastic components and specialist wire products.
ECC has facilities in the UK, France, Italy, Turkey, USA, Canada, China and India, and achieves annual sales of €24 million.

The value of the acquisition is estimated at €13 million. Carclo and Bekaert are expected to reach an agreement in the coming weeks.
The company first invested in this market in 2002 with the acquisition of Sobelcard in Zwevegem, Belgium, which produces half products for card clothing manufacturers.

26th May 2005/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo Increasing UHP, LT/SUV Production

(Akron/Tire Review) Toyo Tire & Rubber said it will boost production at its Kuwana, Japan, plant by the end of 2005, adding capacity for 1.12 million additional ultra-high performance and light truck/SUV tyres. Toyo said it is investing some 2.8 billion yen in the project, targeting overseas markets.

Toyo said the move is part of its efforts to increase global capacity, including building a manufacturing base in North America, raising production capacity of it joint venture plant in China, and launching another joint venture plant for truck and bus tyres in China.

24th May 2005/by Tyrepress Editors