ETMRA
The February 2010 edition of Tyres & Accessories is now available to subscribers (just click more to view the virtual edition). This issue features the Tyre Recovery Business, reports on the recent Autosport/Aftermarket Show, and preview's the forthcoming Tyrexpo Africa trade fair.
ETRMA, the European tyre manufacturers association, has released market data detailing the stop-start nature of most European tyre markets in 2009. According to ETRMA, “the tyre industry has mixed feelings for the year 2009,” diplomatically summing up what was an atrocious year for some and a tough but stable slog for others.
The data shows that the contraction of passenger car tyre sales was smaller in 2009 than in 2008, however OE tyre sales recorded a -18 per cent decrease. The good news is that during the last quarter of 2009 a small but constant increase was reported for both markets.
After experiencing more than a year of general economic recession, the UK tyre recovery sector enters 2010 functioning at roughly full capacity, with around 500,000 tonnes of tyres being collected last year. This puts tonnages on a par with the latest complete data compiled by the Used Tyre Working Group in 2008. However, while the UK has managed to limp out of recession with tyre recovery tonnages generally intact, there are signs that the same market pressures that have put the squeeze on new tyre profit margins are putting pressures on the collection part of the tyre life cycle too; and that regulation-dodging is still a problem.
So, while its good that tonnages in 2009 were relatively stable, the bad news is that illegal tyre collection and disposal activities are rife. What’s worse is that they complexity of such schemes has developed to the point that the disruption caused by rogue “white van man” collectors is now at the bottom end of a wide spectrum. This means large scale scam disposal rings and – in some cases – even franchise operations that are in operation taking money from tyre dealers, but not properly fulfilling their duty of care obligations.
At the end of December, ETRMA published details of a set of exposure scenarios covering the use of chemicals in the rubber industry in order to support European rubber chemicals manufacturers and importers that operate within the framework REACH legislation. The latest REACH legislation took effect on 1 January 2010.
The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association and its twelve leading tyre corporate members have “welcomed” the objectives of the mandatory tyre performance information requirement voted upon by the European Parliament yesterday. Noting the braking performance and fuel efficiency aspects covered by the upcoming tyre labelling, ETRMA says it is “happy that these aspects are fully reflected in the regulation”. The organisation adds that expected fuel savings from the increased use of fuel-efficient tyres will lead to saving an estimated 20 million tonnes of CO2 per year and 10 billion euros of fuel per year.
Figures released by the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association show end of life tyre recycling and recovery rates last year to have exceeded 95 per cent. The 2008 statistics released by the ETRMA show a continuation in the pattern seen over the last 15 years or so, a period during which the disposal of end of life tyres in landfill has decreased from more than 60 per cent in 1994 to around five per cent today. The number of old tyres receiving ecological treatment, the ETRMA notes, has increased by an average of four per cent yearly.
The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) has welcomed the European Parliament’s agreement on tyre labelling, issued 1 October. According to a statement issued by the organisation, ETRMA and its 12 leading tyre corporate members “fully support and welcome the objective of the mandatory tyre performance information requirement.”
I had to say it, didn’t I? I should have known better than to put proverbial pen to paper and write “unless there is an unlikely 11th hour stay of execution at the European parliament.” I should have known better because no sooner had these words gone to print then exactly this happened. I am, of course, referring to the wonderful s-mark legislation (also known as regulation 2001/43), which has become the subject of so much coverage in Tyres & Accessories recently. Apparently, tyres won’t necessarily need an s-mark to comply with regulation 2001/43 and, er, be s-marked.
However, it doesn’t end there. The latest from the Department for Transport is that there has been a “delay in putting into place the statutory instrument which is required for the new s-marking regulations to become law.” In short, there won’t be any means of enforcing the new law in the UK until March 2010. This fact doesn’t affect the other European markets, which will all have to comply by the original 1 October 2009 deadline.
The European Commission has modified its interpretation of regulation 2001/43 so dealers with compliant but non-s-marked stock will be able to sell them under the following circumstances. While the new system is clearly not a self-certification system, the latest decision (made on 6 July) does offer much-needed clarification and flexibility to the market. Tyres & Accessories understands that while the other options the commission and member states discussed have been eliminated, this decision still has to pass through a “commentology” process and may not be officially ratified until September.
The ETRMA reports that in May the overall European replacement tyre market declined for the 14th consecutive month. In terms of segment demand, truck tyre sales between January and May dropped 32 per cent compared with the same period last year, and the ETRMA notes that May’s 24 per cent decline “confirms the strong deterioration of tyre demand.” According to Europool figures, approximately 600,000 truck tyres were sold Europe-wide during the course of the month.
European passenger car tyre sales decreased eight per cent during the January to May period, and decreased nine per cent in May to around 12 million units. The UK market suffered a much greater drop during the month, declining 26 per cent in May.
On April 22 the European Parliament approved – by a large majority – a number of draft measures that will see tyre performance in fuel efficiency, wet grip and noise levels explained on a standardised label attached to new tyres. The new rating system, pencilled in for implementation by late 2012, will use a scale similar to that utilised on the EU Energy Label or “fridge mark” as it has affectionately been dubbed.
Now that the tyre labelling measures first published in November have been approved, it has been proposed that tyres generating particularly low levels of noise be given an extra insignia, imprinted on the outer sidewall. Another proposed change is an upping of the level of information provided in tyre advertisements – the aim is to better inform consumers and provide a stimulus for the development of safer and more environmentally friendly tyres. However, specific details of the labelling scheme have yet to be finalised, and the draft text still awaits the scrutiny of the Council of Ministers, the body representing the 27 EU member states.
When the news that the European authorities were about to agree a new set of regulations for tyre noise, rolling resistance, wet-braking and labelling a month ago, Tyres & Accessories noted that early versions of the draft laws had (in 2008) provoked criticism from within the tyre manufacturing industry. A year later when details of the legislation’s first reading were published it became clear that the revised text had been substantial modified to better reflect the practical implications of implementing such far reaching legislation. With this in mind T&A interviewed European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturer’s Association (ETRMA) secretary general Fazilet Cinaralp, and chairman Dr Francesco Gori – whose membership includes all the leading European tyre manufacturers and those with production facilities within the continent.
Tyres & Accessories (T&A): A year ago ETRMA and some of the individual premium tyre manufacturers described the EC guidelines as unfeasible. What has changed since then?
European tyre manufacturing body, ETRMA, has welcomed the approval of new requirements for the general safety of motor vehicles in yesterday’s first-reading agreement by the European Parliament. According to the association, the new type approval requirements recognise the importance of an integrated approach to tyre performance for consumers by considering both safety and environmental performance in the same act. “The implementation of this legislation will be challenging, but the tyre industry is ready to meet the challenge in light of the consumers and citizens interests,” said ETRMA president Francesco Gori. The challenge will be for the 27 enforcement Authorities to ensure consistent and effective market surveillance.
From ETRMA’s point of view the new regulation is about “environmental and safety objectives with challenging targets, while providing visibility and regulatory certainty for the next 10 years. It is about a single regulation, directly applicable in all the Member States, creating a level playing field in the EU.”
Enormous domestic tyre production capacity, a scarcity of domestic rubber supply and increased output prices could be pointing to strong opportunities in China’s tyre retreading business. Zhou Linyan, president of China Tyre Retreading, Repairing and Recycling Association (CTRA), recently told reporters that China produced 556 million tyres in 2007. And while many of these are destined for export markets, Chinese motorists are expected to discard 200 million end-of-life tyres in 2010.
Other CTRA statistics show that the number of end-of-life (ELT) tyres generated by the People’s Republic have sky-rocketed in recent years – from 32 million in 2000 to 150 million in 2007. Meanwhile, the raw weight of ELTs increased from 12 thousand tons to 3.1 million tons in the same period. While the association predicts China will generate 200 million waste tyres by 2010, the amount of retreading taking place has not yet caught up with the growth in new tyre production and the new tyre to retread rate lies somewhere between 4 and 7 per cent of recovered tyres.
Continental has released a statement welcoming the proposal by the European Commission to introduce an energy efficiency labelling scheme for tyres (see ‘European Commission Proposes Tyre Labelling Scheme’ on Tyrepress.com). The manufacturer approves of the plan to provide motorists with standardised information about tyres’ braking performance, rolling resistance and rolling noise. However, the firm also warned that leading European manufacturers have reservations about the system, namely about “inadequate implementation to the disadvantage of the consumer.”
This concern is a response to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, which in 2001 showed that self-certification measures are often abused due to a lack of inspection mechanisms and sanctions. Over 50 per cent of the electrical appliances checked in 320 German stores were incorrectly labelled or not labelled at all. “That simply may not happen with passenger tyres, considering how important they are for safety,” stressed executive board vice chairman of Continental, Dr Alan Hippe, the man responsible for the Passenger and Light Truck Tyre division.
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