Chinese mould manufacturer Greatoo Incorporated is reportedly planning to establish intelligent factories for the production of large OTR tyre and speciality as well as other apparently high-end moulds as part of a so-called “structural adjustment strategy”. The move is being seen as a way of strengthening the core value of its company by focusing on the highest value sectors.
The organisers of last week’s Tyrexpo India 2013 exhibition (9-11 July) have confirmed their plans to return to Chennai in July 2015. ECI International managing director Paul Farrant, says: “This was our second exhibition in India and we were greatly encouraged by the reaction received from both exhibitors and visitors. There is enormous potential in the tyre sector and we are very confident that the show will continue to grow and develop into a significant event for the tyre and equipment aftermarket.”
Car manufacturing in the UK has grown during the first half of 2013, with acceleration to 4.6 per cent coming in the second quarter and a 10.4 per cent rise in June. The SMMT says that while four out of five cars built in the UK are exported, higher output for the home market, up 24.4 per cent, has boosted volumes.
On 29 June, Vietnam’s Danang Rubber Company and the Vietnam National Chemical Group (Vinachem) held the inauguration ceremony for their, and the country’s, first truck tyre radial factory. The new plant is located within the Lien Chieu Industrial Zone in Da Nang City, and covers an area of 106,632 square metres. It was built with a total investment of VND 2,992 billion (£92.1 million), including equipment costs of VND 1,663 billion, and has a 600,000 tyre per annum capacity. The Vietnamese tyre maker says plant equipment was imported from Italy, The Netherlands and Germany.
A deal signed between Compagnie Financière Groupe Michelin and PT Petrokimia Butadiene Indonesia (PBI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP), will see the production of styrene and butadiene-derived synthetic rubber taking place in Indonesia through a joint venture firm. The agreement gives Michelin 55 per cent ownership in the new company, with PBI holding the remainder. The total investment is estimated to be US$435 million, with plant construction expected to commence in early 2015. Completion and start-up is targeted for the beginning of 2017.
The Al Dobowi Group has appointed Tom Edwards to the position of European marketing manager. Previously export sales manager at Cooper Tire, managing customer relationships across Scandinavia, Benelux and the Mediterranean, Edwards has ten years of sales and marketing experience.
Apollo Tyres has opened its sales hub to the ASEAN region in Bangkok. The region has become one of Apollo’s strongest export markets for its India produced tyres, the company said. Over the last three years, Apollo said the region has doubled in sales.
Cordenka celebrated 75 tyre cord manufacturing on 25 April 2013. The company’s Obernburg location has been producing technical viscose yarn under the Cordenka name since 1938. And for the seven and half decades since then its products have been used as reinforcing material for tyres and other technical rubber goods.
British prime minister David Cameron visited Pirelli’s factory in Carlisle on Friday 26 April where he met with the chairman and CEO of Pirelli, Marco Tronchetti Provera, as well as Italian Ambassador, Pasquale Terraciano, and chairman of Pirelli Tyres Ltd, Mr Dominic Sandivasci. The prime minister was on a tour to the area as part of his campaigning activities ahead of local elections and incorporated the visit to the Pirelli factory, which in 2011 was awarded a £2 million grant from the Regional Growth Fund.
US-based retreading advocate the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau, or TRIB, has released the results of its passenger car tyre retreading survey. TRIB asked its members around the world several questions on the matter, and the replies it gained indicate that passenger car tyre retreading is viewed as a relatively stagnant business.
Recently, Denmark-based wholesaler NDI decided to establish a warehouse in China near to where its Nordexx private brand is manufactured. From this warehouse the wholesaler will directly supply Nordexx-brand and other products to its European and international customers. Last week the first shipment of Nordexx tyres arrived in the new Qingdao warehouse, and NDI says it will have the full Nordexx range in stock there within three weeks.
According to the China Rubber Industry Association, the 43 major tyre companies belonging to the association’s Tyre Branch increased their production by an average of two per cent in 2012, producing a total of 325.5 million tyres, 287 million of which were radials. Sales revenue for the 43 companies was RMB 205.6 billion (£21.9 billion), a 0.3 per cent year-on-year increase.
Demand for used vehicles overseas is leading to cars targeted for export selling for up to twice their UK value or more at auction, say independent car information experts CAP. But the used vehicle export phenomenon is not confined to cars, with CAP's experts also reporting a constant flow of trucks, trailers, motorcycles and vans abroad as the export trade grows every day. This trade, supplying almost every continent with used British vehicles, is pushing prices ever higher in the UK and creating shortages of certain models.
Dundee’s ‘first citizen’, the city’s Lord Provost Bob Duncan, has toured Michelin’s Baldovie Road plant as part of a series of fact-finding company visits planned for the coming weeks. The visit was hosted by plant manager John Reid.
Pirelli’s Carlisle factory has been given the title ‘Export Champion’ by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) – one of only five successful Cumbrian businesses. The North West region Export Champions programme was launched during Export Week by UKTI regional director, Clive Drinkwater. It forms part of a campaign led by Trade and Investment minister Lord Green to increase the number of British exporters by a quarter, which would boost the economy by £36bn. The idea is that Export Champions will inspire novice exporters to pursue overseas markets.
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