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Argentina Drops Retread Import Ban

The Argentinian legislature recently relaxed its ban on imported used and retreaded tyres to allow the importation, under certain conditions, of retreads classified under NCM 4012.11, 4012.12, 4012.13 and 4012.19.

Argentina established a prohibition on the importation of used and retreaded tyres classified under NCM 4012.11, 4012.12, 4012.19 and 4012.20, with the exception of tyres used on airplanes, in August 2002. According to reports, the government of Uruguay subsequently challenged this prohibition with respect to remoulded tyres and a South American Common Market (MERCOSUR) dispute settlement panel determined that Argentina’s action was inconsistent with MERCOSUR requirements.

1st February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dispute Torn MRF Factory Given Week to Re-Open

The government in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu may assume control of the MRF Ltd tyre manufacturing plant in Tiruvottiyur, near Chennai, if the company does not promptly re-open it. The facility has been closed since last December, following industrial disputes in which MRF accused its employees of “indiscipline and being unable to meet productivity norms.”

“The MRF management should find a solution to the labour problem in its units within a week’s time,” electricity minister Arcot N. Veerasamy told the Tamil Nadu state legislative assembly on January 30. He said that the Tamil Nadu chief minister, M. Karunanidhi, would intervene to find an amicable solution, adding that “if no solution was found even then, the government would take over the unit.”

31st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Potholes Endangering Lives

The latest statistics show that 12 per cent or 120,000 out of all of the UK’s one million potholes are not being filled by local councils, which means that repair bills are now soaring every year because of the lack of maintenance by government authorities. Since 1996, the number of claims has soared by 78 per cent in London alone, by 42 per cent in England and by 70 per cent in Wales. TyreSafe recommends that one method of reducing damage to tyres caused by potholes is to maintain them at the levels of pressure recommended by the vehicle manufacturer. If any level of damage is suspected, motorists should visit their nearest dealer or tyre retailer for their tyres to be examined for any faults.

30th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Autopromotec 2009 Makes Indian Connection

Autopromotec 2009 has extended its publicity campaign to include new visits in Europe, America and Asia. Within the framework of a promotional mission supported by the Italian Government, and with the participation of the Italian Ministry for Foreign Commerce – Mrs Emma Bonino, Autopromotec’s organisers are running a workshop on the Italian automotive industry for Indian professionals and press. The event is scheduled to run in New Delhi on February 7, 2008 and is designed to promote the company’s 2009 event, which will take place 20-24 May.

25th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nizhnekamskshina to Increase Size Range

The tyre range produced at Russia’s Nizhnekamskshina tyre factory will increase to 21 sizes this year, the company reports. And according to company representatives, total planned production for 2008 is to be 12.3 million tyres, slightly less than last year. Nizhnekamskshina currently has a capacity of 12.9 million units per annum.

Between 2001 and 2007 some 4.8 billion roubles (£100 million) has been invested into the 37 year old formerly government owned facility, and production at the Nizhnekamskshina plant focuses upon three key segments – passenger car tyres, truck tyres and tyres for agricultural equipment. Factory output is said to cover 30 per cent of Russia’s production output, and of the total volume, 23 per cent are delivered to OEM customers, 59 per cent to the domestic aftermarket, and the remainder exported.

24th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Offered £20 Million From Hungary

It has been reported that Apollo Tyres was offered HUF 7 billion (£20.2 million) in incentives from Hungary’s government to secure the country as the base for the Indian tyremaker’s new factory. If accurate, this figure published in the Budapest Times is far less than the almost £70 million approved by the European Commission for Hankook in 2007. According to Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, the Apollo subsidy equals about two-thirds of the Hankook subsidy per employee.

23rd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Sri Lankan Manufacturers Fight Back Against Imports

The Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB) has announced it will establish two new tyre manufacturing facilities to provide the 14,000 tyres needed for its buses every month while its Ampara tyre factory is being refurbished. The new plants will be located in Matale and Ekala, and SLTB expects to manufacture between 10,000 and 12,000 tyres annually when the first stage of work is complete.

The SLTB’s decision to produce its own tyres rather than import them is perhaps best understood by looking at Sri Lanka’s customs regulations. The SLTB spends Rs 65 million (£308,000) per year on tyre purchases, and each tyre brought into Sri Lanka from overseas is now subject to a tax of Rs 80 (£0.37) per kilogram or 28 per cent of the tyre’s invoiced value, whichever is higher. Assuming a weight of 70 kilograms per tyre, tyre tax, were all tyres to be sourced from overseas, would amount to £62,000. This equates to 20 per cent of total cost.

21st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lionax Reaches DPS Development ‘Milestone’

Lionax, the first Chinese company listed on the Euronext pan-European stock exchange, announced on January 7 that it has reached a ‘key milestone’ in its quest to develop the industry’s leading next generation Digital Pressure Sensor (DPS), a critical component in TPMS systems in terms of both function and cost.

Presently, comments Lionax, TPMS manufacturers purchase DPS units from third party suppliers such as Motorola, Siemens and GE, adding what the Chinese company calls a ‘significant cost’ to TPMS products. Leveraging on proprietary innovative “Ring Oscillation” technology, Lionax’s Silicon Valley office is working with scientists and researchers from Scotland’s SemeFab and Tsinghua University in China to jointly pursue a superior and more cost effective solution. Based on recently available preliminary results, Lionax claims it will have access to the next generation DPS technology at half to one-third of the current market price.

10th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

UK New Car Registrations Up 2.5% in 2007

New car registrations in the UK were the sixth highest on record in 2007. During the year registrations rose 2.5 per cent to 2,404,007 units, surpassing the forecast figure by 90,000 units. Of this, diesel vehicles accounted for a record 40.2 per cent, at 967,436 units an increase of 7.66 per cent over 2006 figures. Also higher last year were registrations of supermini and small family cars, up 17,729 and 25,084 units respectively.

“Last year, demand for new cars was stronger than many had predicted,” said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) CEO Paul Everitt. “There is little sign that the US credit crisis or rising fuel prices have affected demand and we foresee only limited changes through 2008. The UK economy currently remains resilient and the new car market is ultra-competitive.”

9th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Cleared of Heart Disease Charges

The South Korean Ministry of Labour has concluded that “no connection existed between multiple occurrences of heart disease and the working environment at a Hankook Tire plant in Daejeon,” according to a Korea Times report. The ministry told the presidential transition team in a briefing that though the workers at the plant “seem to have more heart disease than others,” but the relation between the alleged “deadly working environment’” could not be established. “We will do our best to improve the working environment no matter what the final report says,’” Hankook Tire spokesman Calvin Park said, welcoming the government announcement. “Workers will be provided with more specified and thorough health checks to prevent such mishaps in the future,’” he added.

9th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Dakar Rally Called Off

The 2008 Dakar Rally, which was due to start in Lisbon on 5th January and finish in Dakar on 20th January, has been cancelled because of safety concerns in the African republic of Mauritania. On Christmas Eve, four French tourists were murdered, and the French government advised against any travel to the country. Eight of the 15 stages of the rally were due to pass through Mauritania.

The event’s organisers, the Amaury Sport Organisation, said there had been “direct threats against the race issued by terrorist groups” and issued the following statement:

“Following several consultations with the French government and taking into account its firm recommendations, the organisers of the Dakar have taken the decision to cancel the 2008 edition of the rally.

8th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Chinese Government Responds to US Countervailing Determination

China’s Ministry of Commerce has published its official response to the countervailing determination set out by the US Department of Commerce on December 10, expressing “strong dissatisfaction over and firm opposition to such a decision.”

The Ministry claims the Department of Commerce has turned a “deaf ear to the US law as well as its own consistent practice” through its decision to break with its practice, maintained since 1984, of not imposing countervailing duties on what it classes as ‘non-market economies’. This non-imposition, says the Ministry, had “already been established as a legal precedent in the US judicial lawsuits” prior to the Department of Commerce’s commencement of a series of five countervailing investigations, which led to US based companies lodging a number of countervailing appeals against products originating in China. Referring to these recent investigations, the Chinese Ministry of Commerce states that “such practices are by no means conducive to the normal development of the bilateral trade and economic ties.”

8th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Ruia Offers Dunlop Land to State

Pawan Ruia, chairman of Dunlop India, has offered to set up an IT special economic zone (SEZ) on 50 acres of Dunlop land belonging to the Sahaganj factory labour colony. A similar offer has been made on 50 acres of Jessop land at Durgapur too. Ruia, chairman of both India’s first tyre maker Dunlop and oldest engineering company Jessop, said: “Sahaganj, located just 40 km from Kolkata, with an improved road connection can serve to disperse the IT concentration in Salt Lake-Rajarhat area.”

The proposal comes at a time when the state government is hard pressed to arrange land for IT majors like Infosys Technologies, Wipro, ITC Infotech. Dunlop’s land at Sahaganj covers 239 acres, of which only 51 acres accommodate the factory. According to local news sources Dunlop India is currently going through a “funds crunch” that has resulted in the state electricity board severing electricity in December with no word of when it would be resumed.

3rd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MRF to set up tyre manufacturing unit in Tamil Nadu: Minister

Indian tyremaker MRF is reported to be preparing to build its anticipated new facility in the state of Tamil Nadu during the first half of 2008. This news was disclosed by a regional government official, Mr. A Rajah, who added that most of the 140-hectares of land required for the Rs9 billion (£112 million) facility in the district of Perambalur had already been acquired and construction work on a new Rs250 million (£3.1 million) ring road connecting with the plant would begin within six months. MRF has previously stated that much output from this new facility would be earmarked for export markets.

12th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone Liberia Extends Charity Assistance Scheme

Bridgestone’s subsidiary in the African nation of Liberia, Firestone Natural Rubber Company, LLC, has announced that its cargo donation program will be extended throughout 2008. The program, which began in 2006 with the aim of helping to rebuild the civil war ravaged West African country, provides space for relief goods and other donated cargo from aid organisations on ships operated by Firestone Liberia. To date more than 30 aid organisations have signed up to ship donated goods – including medicine, vitamins, food, generators and building materials.

7th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors