Commercial Vehicle Tyres
Michael Andre has resigned from Giti Tire Europe for personal reasons. Andre, who was marketing director for passenger car tyres Europe and managing director of the company’s Giti Tire Germany GmbH German subsidiary, is said to have made his decision during the middle of March.
More than a week after the Japan earthquake caused widespread power outages and disruption to manufacturing in parts of the main island of Honshu, Toyo Tires and Sumitomo Rubber have recommenced production at factories located in affected areas.
During Goodyear Tire & Rubber’s March 22 investor day, Asia Pacific president Pierre Cohade reported that the company’s newest plant in China, its Pulandian facility, has commenced production. Speaking on the plant that in a couple of years will completely replace Goodyear’s existing Dalian factory, where maximum possible production capacity has already been reached, Cohade confirmed “the factory is just starting up, we made the first tyre last month.”
A US$210 million investment in Continental’s Camaçari, Brazil plant is expected to boost capacity to around nine million passenger car tyres and almost a million truck tyres per annum within the next five years. Announcing the growth plans, Continental Tire the Americas CEO Matthias Schönberg stated “this investment is part of Continental’s strategy to grow our tyre operations worldwide significantly, especially in the BRIC countries. It will allow us to almost double the production capacity of the Camaçari plant by the end of 2015.” The first signs of capacity growth will be witnessed this year as plant capacity is expected to creep up from its current approximate level of 4.5 million passenger tyres and 350,000 truck tyres to 5 million passenger tyres and 450,000 truck tyres.
According to Continental, the cost of natural rubber rose fourfold between January 2009 and February 2011 to a record high of more than US$5.60 per kilogram and the current yearly average price has remained at $5.40. Due to this ongoing increase and the rise in other raw material costs, the tyre maker will increase its prices for commercial vehicle tyres in Europe on May 1.
National and international haulier Massey Wilcox Transport has signed a deal to fit Michelin tyres across its entire fleet. Michelin’s price per kilometre (PPK) contract, with tyres serviced by ATS Euromaster, has been adopted by the haulier. Massey Wilcox Transport’s managing director, Robert Wilcox, says: “The quality of Michelin’s tyres will improve fleet performance and give us cost savings on fuel and tyres. We are confident that this is the start of a long relationship with Michelin.”
Yokohama Rubber has provided information on the status of its factories in Japan following last Friday’s earthquake. Tyre production has been largely unaffected, with its Shinshiro, Mie and Onomichi factories operating as normal. The tyre maker comments that it is “addressing the issue of procurement of raw materials” for these plants. Operations at the company’s Mishima plant, where passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyres are produced, was suspended following the earthquake. Yokohama has found no serious damage to buildings or equipment, and operations were partially resumed after it confirmation was given it was safe to do so. Yokohama says it is “now working to determine a schedule for returns to full operation.”
Antwerp, Belgium based wholesaler Deldo reports the addition of light commercial vehicle tyres to its Minerva and Rockstone private brand line-ups. The Minerva light truck tyre range currently includes 20 fitments for 12 to 16-inch rim diameters, and Deldo international sales and marketing manager Rutger Veerman reports that a similar size range is also available for Rockstone. The new additions increase the Minerva range to 138 sizes and Rockstone to 254 sizes.
Continental Tire the Americas will increase prices on all Continental, General and Ameriseal brand commercial vehicle tyres by 10 per cent, effective April 1. Citing the continued escalation of raw material and energy costs, the tyre maker said the increase will affect all replacement sales channels in the US.
The use of ‘high-PAH’ extender oils in tyres manufactured for sale within the European Union has been prohibited under the Reach regulation since January 1, 2010. This restriction was heeded by firms producing within the EU and appropriate modifications to the manufacturing process made before the deadline, and the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) reports the confirmation of these producers’ compliance by independent testing. However the ETRMA notes “strong industry concern” exists as to whether all tyres imported into the European Union are being tested for compliance. For this reason the ETRMA itself took on the task of testing 45 brands of tyre – 110 tyres in total – that are currently offered for sale within the European Union. The results confirmed that the association’s apprehension was not unfounded.
ATS Euromaster is to supply the Giti Tire manufactured Primewell brand of truck. Primewell tyres are already sold in Asia, North America, South America and mainland Europe. Giti Tire is reportedly the fourth largest radial truck tyre manufacturer in the world.
Richard Lyons, Giti sales director – Europe, said: "We were looking for a large national company whose values reflected our own focus on quality, innovation and the environment, and ATS Euromaster ticked every box. Fleets of all sizes are using Primewell tyres around the world and have commented on the difference they are making to costs and performance levels. We have every faith that our partnership with ATS Euromaster will help us swiftly establish a similar reputation in the UK commercial vehicle sector."
On February 10, about a year the first tyre emerged from the curing presses at Apollo Tyres’ new Chennai factory, company management, board members and government ministers assembled at the plant to celebrate its official inauguration. Present to mark the occasion were company chairman Onkar S Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar plus members of the Board of directors and CEOs from Apollo’s operations in India, Europe and South Africa, along with Tamil Nadu state government representatives including labour minister T N Anbarasan and principal secretary of Industries Rajeev Ranjan.
From 1 April Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. Ltd will increase the price of tyres for passenger cars and light trucks sold in the Japanese domestic replacement market by an average of 7 per cent. Despite the fact the price hike takes effect on April fool’s day, the increase is not joke and applies to both Toyo’s summer and winter tyres. In fact the cost of some size of light truck tyres will rise sooner, with their Japanese domestic market price increase scheduled to take effect on 1 March 2011.
In recent months, Marangoni Retreading Systems has taken on a number of new partners in the Middle East and signed agreements with a number of important retreaders within the region, including Al Zahem Industries in Kuwait. Through this particular contract, Marangoni Retreading Systems has been able to enter the Kuwaiti market with the backing of the experience and skills possessed by the country’s sole retreader.
Domestic market prices for Toyo Tire & Rubbers’ commercial and light commercial vehicle tyres are to increase by an average of seven per cent as of March 1, 2011. These Japanese replacement market prices apply to both summer and winter tyres and are being implemented in response to increasing natural rubber prices plus the high price of petrochemical raw materials such as synthetic rubber and carbon black. Toyo notes it has made efforts to minimise raw material prices through product mix and cost rationalization, however these internal measures are not sufficient to not cover the increase in raw material prices.
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