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Recall Population Reduced, Tyremaker Claims No Impact on Business

(Akron/Tire Review) Even as the Chinese manufacturer continues to claim there are no quality problems with its tyres, certain light truck/SUV tyres produced by Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co. are still being recalled in the US, though apparently not in the same numbers as originally stated.

Foreign Tire Sales now says it is recalling only 250,000 Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber-produced tyres. Originally, FTS and NHTSA estimated that 450,000 tyres had to be recalled due to concerns over tread separations.

In a letter to NHTSA, FTA said its has narrowed the group of questioned tyres. The impacted tyres were produced in three phases, FTS said, but only those produced in the second phase were missing gum strips. Tyres produced without the gum strips layers between the steel belts, FTS claims, have a greater propensity to suffer tread separations.

26th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sameer Seeks Government Subsidies

Kenya based Sameer Africa Ltd has asked the Kenyan government to provide subsidies to local manufacturers so they can counter rising energy costs and remain competitive. The manufacturer of Yana brand tyres has made this call following government requests to the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM) to transfer some of their production to off peak times in which there is lower demand for electricity.

Sameer Africa’s chairman, Naushad Meralli, believes high energy costs are a large contributor to local manufacturers’ diminishing competitiveness. “This increased costs will diminish our ability to compete effectively domestically and in the export markets, which are also attractive to our competitors with lower power costs,” he said.

24th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sri Lankan Govt Tyre Factory Reaches End of Line

The bicycle tyre manufacturing facility in the Sri Lankan town of Mawanella operated by the Sri Lanka Rubber Manufacturing and Export Corporation, a body owned and controlled by the nation’s Ministry of Plantation Industries, has ended production and remains closed. Local media reports indicate that plant machinery is in a state of decline and the factory buildings have become ‘dilapidated.’

The plant was established in 1974 under a United Nations Development programme at a cost of £17 million. However the machinery in use was said to be sub-standard, resulting in the poor performance of the company’s tyres in the marketplace.

23rd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Tests Reveal Sub-Standard Inner Tubes

China’s official quality control body has disclosed the disturbing statistic that 14.3 per cent of Chinese made truck tyre inner tubes it recently tested for safety failed to meet the predetermined criteria. According to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, 51 truck tyres and tyre tubes produced by 30 companies were tested, and while all 37 of the tested tyres passed muster, one-seventh of tubes were found to be sub-standard.

“The tensile strength of some tyre tubes did not meet standard and were inclined to burst when the trucks ran on roads,” reported a General Administration spokesperson, who added that the tyre tubes tested were exclusively domestic market products and none were destined for export.

23rd July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

JK Tyre Aiming to Increase Turnover by More than 50%

It is hoped that JK Tyre and Industry’s Rs 11 billion (£135 million) capital expenditure and capacity increase from 9 million to 12 million units will help towards the company achieving a turnover of Rs 50 billion (£610 million) within three years, claims chief financial officer A K Kinra. Mumbai based publication DNA has reported Kinra as stating “We are aiming to grow by 20 per cent annually over the next 3-4 years. We hope to be a Rs 5,000 crore (£610 million) company by 2010.” Currently JK Tyre has an annual turnover of Rs 30 billion (£366 million).

Kinra added that the current slowdown in India’s car industry was not of concern to JK Tyre as OE contracts only make up about 10 per cent of the tyremaker’s business, with the rest coming from the replacement and export markets. “The slowdown has only a marginal impact on us. In the aftermarket space, we see a robust demand,” he said.

13th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Business Booming for Kirkby Tyres & Wheels

In the last five years Kirkby Tyres & Wheels has grown rapidly. After impressive sales growth of 20 per cent (by value) in 2005, the company repeated this performance in 2006 with sales growing 18 per cent. And, at the end of the first quarter of 2007 sales are again up roughly a fifth. Speaking to Tyres & Accessories, managing director Dave Dorrity puts the companies success down to its increasingly successful imported lines including Double Coin, Alliance and Protector; the growth of its wheel and wheel and tyre assembly business; and the rationalisation of its warehousing operations.

Financial analysts at Plimsoll publishing have picked up on the company’s growth too – ranking Kirkby as a UK Top 50 leader in efficiency and also one of the 50 most cash rich company’s in the UK tyre trade. See the forthcoming issues of T&A for more details on the growth of this import/export, commercial, industrial and agricultural tyre specialist.

11th July 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

TSI/SSG Take the Strain Out of Work

“Increasing awareness of environmental issues has popularised our range of tyre cutters, especially the portable TC-125 machine, with sales far exceeding our expectations,” said TSI/SSG export manager, Arvid Vaaten. The TC-125 will cut steel belted radial tyres with a rim diameter up to 52 inches and this includes radial tractor tyres.

An uncomplicated three handle procedure allows for comfortable operator control of all the cutters functions. The machine incorporates a roller table for easy manoeuvring of tyres and hydraulic positioning arms to hold the tyre in place. Even exceptionally heavy tyres can be lifted onto the machines roller table by a hydraulic lift. The heavy-duty moveable shear blade is sustained by two stationary blades for clean and easy cutting.

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Change in Chinese Export Rules May Lead to More Tyre Price Increases

(Akron/Tire Review) Effective July 1, the Chinese government will reduce, and in some cases eliminate, VAT (value-added tax) refund rates given to companies exporting certain goods out of China. More than 2,800 product classifications – including rubber, steel and carbon – will be affected by the reductions, the third change in refund rates since 2005.

China is making these changes to address overwhelming export growth and attempt to manage its trade surplus. Traditionally, export VAT refunds have kept export prices low for tyremakers and tyre- and wheel-component suppliers exporting out of China. According to an Ernst & Young report released June 20, “any change to a VAT refund rate will impact the prices charged on export goods as well as the profitability of exporters.”

29th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook’s New European Plant Up and Running

June 26 is to be a red-letter day in the history of Hankook in Europe, as this is the day the company has chosen to officially commence production at its new £340 million facility in Dunaujvaros, Hungary. The 54-hectare site south of the capital Budapest has been set up to manufacture UHP tyres for the European market, and when full production is reached in 2010 a total of 10 million tyres will be produced each year.

The new facility in Hungary will be instrumental in Hankook’s plans to increase its European market share to 8 per cent by 2010. At present 35 per cent of the company’s global export revenues are generated in Europe, Hankook’s largest export market.

25th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Sun Tyres Expects 25 per cent Increase in Retread Demand

Sun Tyre Industries Sdn Bhd, a leading Malaysian retreaded tyre manufacturer, expects retread demand to go up by 20 to 25 this year. The company made the prediction on receiving the MS224:2005 certification on 21 June. Executive director, Steven Gan Seng Poe, said demand for retreaded tyres in Malaysia was always high and that the company was confident of meeting the demand as they planned to increase production at their new plant in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

The production at the plant would be raised to about 9,000 units a month by year-end compared to the current production of 2,000 units a month. According to local news source Bernama, the Seremban-based company currently produces 25,000 retreaded tyres a month, which are mostly used for commercial vehicles.

22nd June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

NTDA: Increased Costs Cause Chinese Tyre Price Increases

Significantly higher transportation costs for tyres from China will increase the cost of brands from this market by up to 5 per cent over the coming months, according to the NTDA. Commenting on recent increases in container rates from the Far East NTDA Director Richard Edy said: “Container rates have increased by up to $300 in recent weeks and the Chinese Governments decision to reduce export subsidies by 8 per cent in July will put added pressure on transportation costs which could have a marked effect on the price of Brands from China.

15th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Jobs to Go at Michelin’s Ota Facility

Michelin has released further details regarding changes at its Ota factory in Japan. As previously reported, the tyremaker intends to transform the facility into a centre for producing technologically advanced Japanese market products at the expense of its current export production. This change in focus is expected to come at a cost of about 65 million euros.

In addition to the fiscal cost, Michelin also states that 550 jobs will be cut from the factory before it fully resumes production with its new emphasis. However a company spokesman added that an unspecified number of workers will be offered alternative employment within the Michelin group. “We are not planning 550 redundancies,” he said.

12th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Japanese Michelin Plant to Focus on Hi-Tech Offerings

Michelin has decided to specialise tyre production at its facility in Ota, Japan so it can, as the company stated in a press release, “respond more effectively to the specific, highly technological requirements of the local market.” The plant’s efforts will focus upon Japanese demand for sophisticated products such as the directional tread studless winter X Ice tyre, which was especially designed for the Japan market.

The Ota plant will also provide support for Michelin’s R&D centre in Asia, thus strengthening Michelin’s research operations in Japan. To accommodate these changes, the plant will terminate production for other export markets, which represent approximately 60 per cent of its current output, and adjust its production capacities accordingly. Based on an initial estimate of the cost of the plan, a non-recurring expense of roughly 65 million euros will be recognised in the Company’s first-half 2007 financial statements.

11th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Rosehill Increases US Export Business

Investment of over £4 million in new plant and machinery has seen Rosehill Polymers achieve a 50 per cent growth in export sales of its TPV range of Infill and Inplay products to the United States this year. Recently as many as 28 in one single month, as the company continues to satisfy America’s insatiable appetite for its products.

Rosehill Polymers, based in Sowerby Bridge, West Yorkshire has developed its new TPV granular product to be used as either a bonded top layer for multi-sports and play surfaces or as a loose infill for synthetic grass pitches. It is now available in a range of 16 different colours, which can be used in applications including soccer pitches, running tracks, grid-iron football pitches and children’s play surfaces.

6th June 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Kumho Breaks Ground at New China Site

The groundbreaking ceremony for Kumho Tires’ fourth factory in China – and the first not to be engaged in the manufacture of passenger car tyres – was held in Nanjing on May 16 in the presence of more than three hundred company executives and distinguished guests. The company will invest around £50 million in the construction of this latest facility, which when completed in the second half of 2008 will specialise in the production of truck and bus radials. Annual production is planned at 300,000 units.

At the ceremony, Kumho chief executive Park SamKu stated “I am very glad to build this bus and truck tyre factory at Nanjing, an important place for us to further our growth in the Chinese market.” He added that Kumho intends to place a greater emphasis on dealings between the company’s Korean headquarters and its operations in China. Furthermore, Kumho Tires is planning, in the company’s own words, to “aggressively pursue the Chinese tyre market through an export markets diversification strategy.”

23rd May 2007/by Tyrepress Editors