Today the Trelleborg Group inaugurated its new agricultural tyre factory in China. The plant, which is located in Xingtai, Hebei Province, is set up for the manufacture of both radial and cross-ply tyres for farming, forestry and agro-industrial applications. It will serve the needs of Trelleborg’s partners by providing local supply to their Chinese facilities, and just as importantly, to local manufacturers.
Taiwan-based news service CENS reports that Kenda Rubber intends to invest approximately NT$10 billion (£212 million) to set up a plant in China’s Guangdong Province. At the company’s recent shareholders meeting, chairman Yang Ying Ming stated the tyre maker is acquiring 700 acres in Huizhou, and intends to relocate its existing Shenzhen factory there. The plant will produce motorcycle and bicycle tyres and daily output is expected to reach 83,000 pieces by 2016. Industry sources also say the new Huizhou factory will be much bigger than the Shenzhen plant as it will contain passenger car radial production lines intended to serve the European and US markets.
Round Six of the 2012 MotoGP Championship saw Yamaha Factory Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo win the British Grand Prix for his third consecutive MotoGP victory. Tyre supplier Bridgestone pronounced itself pleased that the compounds it supplied in its rear slicks allowed riders to perform in milder conditions than may have been anticipated. With rain just about staying clear, track temperatures that were cool for June at 22-28°C were the major concern, but the availability of medium-soft rear slicks, selected by all but Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, allowed the field to combat this coolness. The front soft and medium compound tyres split the riders, including front-runners Lorenzo – on the more durable medium – and Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner, who selected the soft, which warms up faster. Bridgestone said that the compounds both “worked well” and the close racing between the front-runners was indicative of both tyres’ quality.
Telford-based tyre wholesaler Treadsetters boasts a comprehensive range of ultra high performance brands, including premium and mid-range labels along with 'value for money' budget ranges. In fact, the company says it prides itself on offering dealerships a flexible and versatile tyre selection.
This month the Nizhnekamsk Truck Tire Factory (OOO NZGSH), which is part of OAO TATNEFT's petrochemical business, manufactured its 70 millionth tyre. Production at the Nizhnekamsk truck tyre factory began in April 1978, and the 70 millionth tyre was timed to coincide with Chemist's Day and the 80th birthday of Nikolay Alexandrovich Zelenov, the first director of the Nizhnekamsk tyre factory, and now adviser to the chairman of the company’s Board of Directors of OOO "Nizhnekamskshina". The milestone tyre was a Kamaz truck tyre.
The China Rubber Industry Association reports that Double Coin is aiming to raise its annual all-steel truck radial production to 1.8 million units. The company is said to be accelerating work on its new factory, which is now expected to go on stream later this year.
Jorge Lorenzo dominated the field on his Yamaha Factory Racing M1 in a wet French MotoGP to claim his second win of the season, ten seconds ahead of Ducati’s Valentino Rossi, moving him to the top of the Championship standings ahead of third-placed Casey Stoner. All the riders chose to use Bridgestone’s soft wet tyres on front and rear on a cool, sodden track, increasing warm-up performance and initial grip. Bridgestone said the reduced standing water as the race went on resulted in very little degradation, since the majority of riders setting their personal best times in the latter stages of the race.
In addition to soon to be announced plans for a new factory in Central/Eastern Europe, Apollo Tyres has voiced interest in establishing a plant somewhere in Asia. On 11 May, the Hindu Business Line quoted Apollo vice-chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar as saying “we would like to set up a production base in Asean.”
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has appointed Mitch Burke plant manager at its Warren County, Tennessee truck and bus tyre factory. Burke has been with Bridgestone Americas since 1989, starting his career as a junior engineer at the Warren County plant. Subsequently, he served in numerous engineering and management roles of increasing responsibility, including positions as quality coordinator, section manager, operations manager, area business manager, division manager of Truck Bus Radial Technical Services, and, most recently, division manager, Operations.
A number of Michelin factories across Europe, including the firm’s Dundee, Scotland plant have opted to reduce output in order to manage “the market requirements and stock conditions.” According to the company, Dundee – the firm’s only British passenger car tyre factory – has been impacted because the issues centre on the car tyre sector. Recently announced investment projects are also being delayed.
Repsol Honda’s Casey Stoner scored his first MotoGP victory at Jerez after fending off Factory Yamaha Racing’s Jorge Lorenzo in a closely contested Spanish GP. Masao Azuma, chief engineer at tyre supplier Bridgestone’s Motorsport Tyre Development Department, said: “I am happy with how both our wet and slick tyres performed at Jerez in what were very challenging operating conditions.”
News out of India indicate Alliance Tire Group is planning to erect a new OTR tyre plant there and boost capacity at another plant. According to a report in the Business Standard, the tyre maker is looking at investing a total of around US$160 million; this will go towards a 50,000 tonne per annum greenfield facility in Gujarat state and to boost output from the company’s Tamil Nadu factory from 48,000 tonnes per annum to 61,000 tonnes. A co-generation plant will also be installed in Tamil Nadu.
Avintia Blusens’ rider Iván Silva put in a hot lap on slick tyres during a damp first practice session at Jerez to finish Friday on top of the timesheets. Conditions were neither fully wet nor dry during the first practice session and only eight riders chose to go out. Sporadic rain continued falling throughout the morning session and continued right until the start of FP2. The earlier downpour resulted in enough standing water on the circuit to necessitate wet tyres in FP2.
Nissan's factory at Sunderland has been awarded the Queen's Award for continued achievement in International Trade. The Queen's Awards for Enterprise are the UK's most prestigious awards for business performance, recognising and rewarding outstanding achievement by UK based companies.
Renault has chosen to fit Bridgestone Potenza RE050A tyres as original equipment for the Renault Clio RS Red Bull Racing RB7, launched in March 2012. The 200hp limited edition car was developed to celebrate Red Bull Racing’s Formula One Constructors’ title – Renault has supplied its RS27 V8 engine to the Milton Keynes-based team since the 2007 season.
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