On August 1, Dunlop India owner Pawan Kumar Ruia was informed he had seven days to present his plan for the tyre maker’s Sahaganj factory to the West Bengal state government. Ruia met with state labour minister Purnendu Bose and was asked to furnish a detailed report covering his intentions.
News sources in Wales have reported the arrest by South Wales Police of a 42-year old man from Swansea in connection with the tyre fire on the Fforestfach industrial estate in the south Wales town, which burned for 22 days in June and July. The Environment Agency said 5,000 tonnes of shredded tyres were being stored on the former Mettoys factory; the arrest strongly suggests the waste was held there illegally.
The plant manager of Michelin’s Homburg truck tyre factory in Germany is to take on responsibility for all 18 of the manufacturer’s European truck tyre plants; as of November, Jürgen John will transfer to the French manufacturer’s head office in Clermont-Ferrand to assume this new role.
Almost two years ago Kumho Tire announced it would delay construction of its new factory in the US state of Georgia, with a start to work pushed back until late 2013. Now local news sources say construction of the new plant may commence sooner than anticipated. According to Middle Georgia NBC network affiliate WMGT-TV, Bibb County officials who are working together with Kumho on the project anticipate a summer 2012 start to work on the new plant.
In addition to the appointment of Rafael Navarro III to the role of vice-president, Communications and Media Relations, as reported on tyrepress.com earlier today, Pirelli has announced to further promotions in its North American operations.
The labour minister of India’s West Bengal state has asked Ruia Group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia to clarify his intentions regarding Dunlop India, and its Sahaganj plant in particular, to the state government. Labour minister Purnendu Bose visited the Sahaganj facility on July 17 – and articles published by India’s media indicate he was not impressed by what he found.
It isn’t Bridgestone as previously announced, yet a tyre maker will act as sponsor to the Russian Cup after all. The tyre maker in question is Pirelli, who on July 16 announced it will be the “institutional sponsor” for the Russian Cup’s 2011-12 season. Pirelli says it chose to sponsor the Russian Cup to consolidate its brand awareness in a rapidly growing market. It adds that Russia, where Pirelli has been present since 1985, represents one of the areas in which the group’s growth strategy is focused and – referring to plans for establishing a factory there – where it aims to have a direct industrial presence.
On 7 July tyre manufacturer Hankook announced the winner of the Motor Transport Fleet Engineer of the Year award which was presented to Paul Pinfold from Indesit at last night’s awards ceremony in London. Shortlisted candidates also included Dan Bauckham at Suckling Transport and Darren O’Donnell at Coca-Cola Enterprises. The award, sponsored by Hankook, was presented to Paul Pinfold by Barrie Horrocks, Hankook sales director, TV Personality Chris Tarrant and Sky Sports Presenter Millie Clode.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries reports that on June 15 its subsidiary in China, Sumitomo Rubber (Changshu) Co., Ltd., manufactured its 50 millionth tyre. This milestone was reached after less than a decade of operation; the company was established nine years ago to meet the growing needs of the Chinese market, and production of radial tyres began in April 2004.
Tyre production at Goodyear’s Union City, Tennessee plant has come to an end. Plans to close the factory by the end of the year were announced in February, yet production has ceased even soon, it appears, than the tyre maker itself originally anticipated. “When we announced our intention to close the plant, we expected the shutdown would occur by year-end,” stated Goodyear chairman and CEO Richard J. Kramer. “Since then, the product transfers to the other Goodyear plants have been completed more quickly than expected. We are now able to meet the needs of our consumer tyre customers without further production in Union City.”
A blaze within a Swansea factory containing some 5,000 tonnes of shredded tyres has been extinguished after three weeks. Fire crews had battled the fire at the former Mettoys factory since June 16 and gaining the upper hand required demolishing a good part of the building so that the burning waste could be removed an immersed in large tanks of water.
On June 30 a groundbreaking ceremony was held to mark the start of work to convert the former Winnebago Industries factory in the US state of Iowa into a production site for Mitas agricultural tyres. A number of civic representatives attended the ceremony in Charles City, which was hosted by project leader Vladimir Dusanek, vice-president of Mitas Tires North America.
The Indian Oil Corporation has entered a joint-venture agreement with Taiwan’s TSRC Corporation and Japan’s Corporation to set up a synthetic rubber factory in India. According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the three companies will hold respective 50, 30 and 20 per cent stakes in a joint-venture factory that is planned to produce 200,000 tonnes of synthetic rubber a year for the tyre industry.
Indian tyre maker MRF Ltd reports that the lockout at its factory in Kottayam, Kerala state, was lifted on the morning of June 24. Two days earlier the company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange it had implemented the lockout on account of “labour unrest in the factory.” While MRF’s own announcements do not elaborate on the issue, The Financial Express newspaper's coverage of the incident cites a union source, who explains the lockout as being the “fallout of a dispute between an employee and a supervisor over alleged unauthorised leave.” Specifically, the anonymous union source alleges the employee was not permitted to go on duty on June 18 and other workers then staged a walkout as a mark of solidarity. The plant is said to have lost around Rs220 million (£3 million) during the four days it was out of operation, the financial daily added.
A former Mettoys factory on the Fforestfach industrial estate in Swansea has been burning since at least lunchtime yesterday (16 June), and appears likely to continue to do so into the weekend, as 50 firefighters work to control the blaze. The reason for the fire’s resilience and size appears to be “several tonnes” of shredded tyres that were being stored on the site, according to the BBC’s local news report at the scene. The corporation quotes firefighter Richard Fry: “The product is quite a number of feet thick in places and it's a very deep seat burning and very slow burning. It's a rubber product from reused vehicle tyres and it's the by-product of the process that was used to recycle these tyres. There's quite a few tonnes in there. We expect this to continue for a number of days yet."
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
