Happy birthday Bridgestone Poznan. On September 26 staff at the company’s facility in Poland celebrated its tenth anniversary of operation. The 1,300 employees were joined in by over 140 guests to commemorate the occasion, including Japan’s ambassador to Poland, Mr. Ryuichi Tanabe, the CEO of Bridgestone Europe, Mr. Toru Tsuda, members of the press and representatives of local authorities.
Chinese tyre manufacturer Aufine Group Co., Ltd has announced that it is now developing new ranges of ultra high performance and standard passenger car radial tyres. The company’s passenger car radial manufacturing output volume is expected to total some 10 million units in 2009. According to the company, the new range will be amongst the best quality in the world due to the factory’s cooperation with a tyre company ranked “within the top seven in the world.” Aufine’s new UHP range is expected to initially include 14 sizes ranging 195/45 R15 to 225/40R18 XL. Dozen of standard passenger car sizes will be made available.
American Tire Corp. now claims it has acquired some 520 acres of land in Washington state on which it plans to build its $500 million OTR tyre plant – a facility that earlier this year it had claimed was already under construction. In addition, ATC said it plans to “acquire another big parcel of land with the similar size to support its long-term development in the OTR tyre industry.”
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.
China’s largest surface coal mine, China Coal Pingshuo, has signed a three-year renewable contract with Michelin. According to an official statement released by the tyre manufacturer, the deal sees the company enter into an agreement to provide “a new kind of service.”
China Coal Pingshuo has contracted Michelin to provide and maintain 53/80R63 tyres for the Komatsu 930E trucks that it operates in the mine. The leader in the Chinese market for giant 63-inch tyres, Michelin had previously signed a tyre supply contract with Pingshuo in May 2007. In May 2008, the same customer chose Michelin as its 2007 Supplier of the Year from a list of 186 companies.
Investment funding for the planned Ordabasy joint venture in Kazakhstan, the product of cooperation between Nokian Tyres and Kazakhstanian multi-industrial company Ordabasy Corporation JSC, gained approval from the Development Bank of Kazakhstan during its sitting on March 28. The Development Bank, formed in 2001, is responsible for providing credit to medium-term and long-term projects in non-primary sectors of the national economy.
Establishment of the Ordabasy facility is anticipated to cost 160 million euros, and will have an annual capacity of four million tyres when complete.
The previously discussed merger or cooperation between Amtel-Vredestein and Sibur Russian Tyres has, according to a source within Sibur Russian Tyres, been put on hold until the former company’s debts have been restructured. Reuters reported this development on March 24, four days after Amtel-Vredestein announced what it calls a “restructuring proposal for its debt obligations.”
On March 20 Amtel-Vredestein said that, further to the announcement the company made on January 29, the company’s Russian subsidiary will reorganise its current and long-term debt obligations with the majority of its current lenders. Talks with lending banks are said to be ongoing.
The organisers of the Autopromotec have announced that the company has cancelled its proposed publicity campaign to Indian companies. An official statement from the company reads: “We inform you that the mission in India supported by the Italian Government in cooperation with Regions scheduled on February 4-8, 2008 has been cancelled owing to India’s political crisis.”
Amtel-Vredestein’s Russian subsidiary OJSC Amtel-Vredestein has signed an exclusive contract to supply Amtel tyres for Renault Logan passenger cars produced in Russia. Amtel-Vredestein will be the only Russian tyre producer to supply OJSC Autoframos with original equipment.
The majority of the tyres will be manufactured by Amtel’s Amtel-Povolzhye tyre complex (Kirov). It is projected that the company will supply between 30,000 – 35,000 tyres per month, and will supply a total of 480,000 OE tyres by the end of 2008. According to the company, preparations leading up to the contract took three years.
European retreading material suppliers have been dominating the retreader supply market for years. But now they face new competition from supplies originating from outside Europe. These competitors are addressing some of the same customers and are increasingly doing so on the same basis – quality and price. The latest edition of our bilingual Retreading Special supplement (produced by Tyres & Accessories in cooperation with our European sister publication Neue ReifenZeitung) put the editorial focus on the increasing polarization of the market between the established suppliers on the one hand and the manufacturers and second row on the other.
The next edition of this increasingly popular supplement will be published in parallel with our March 2008 issue. The current issue is available to download free of charge here and is stored, along with other back issues, in the archive section of www.tyrepress.com, under reports.
Savatech d.o.o. has been co-operating with the leading scooter and moped producers for a few years, making it a leading brand name in the area of OE tyre equipment for the most important scooter brands such as Piaggio, Gilera, Vespa, Peugeot, Malaguti, Aprilia and others. Many years of cooperation with Piaggio have been supplemented with another new vehicle called Piaggio Ape Calessino. This new vehicle was presented to the public few days ago, having been developed with the Savatech d.o.o. – Velo Programme.
This new vehicle will be produced in special limited edition with white wall tyres and styling reminiscent of the 60’s. There will only be 999 such vehicles produced. The use of chrome, wood and polished metals suits the nautical theme on which it was based. Piaggio Ape Calessino runs a 422 cm3 diesel engine which can reach speeds up to 56 km/h.
Hankook Tire has announced the appointment of the company’s current President and COO of Hankook Tire Europe, Mr. Seung Hwa Suh, to the position of Global CEO. Mr. Suh, the person Hankook accredits as the driving force behind its new production facility in Hungary, officially took on his new role on March 5.
As part of the strategic and operational action program Trelleborg announced at their Capital Markets Day in November 2006, the company plans to initiate consultations with their Employee Consultative Committee regarding the closure and transfer of Trelleborg’s operations from West Thurrock, in the UK.
Amtel-Vredestein N.V. has won the 2006 “Rus Prix Award” in the category “Best investment project in The Netherlands by a Russian Company.” The Award ceremony was staged in The Hague, 10 June.
The Board of Directors of Pirelli & C. S.p.A has announced it will begin its initial public offering for Pirelli Tyre S.p.A on 21 June. Pirelli Tyre S.p.A. gained Borsa Italiana approval for the listing on 12 June 2006. Banca Caboto, Capitalia, Goldman Sachs International, J.P. Morgan Securities, Mediobanca, Merrill Lynch International and Morgan Stanley, will act as Global Coordinators for the Global Offering.
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