The Indian government has put provisional anti-dumping duty (ADD) on tyres imported from China and Thailand, with effect from 9 October the Business Standard reported. According to the newspaper, 300,000 imported tyres brought in mainly from China for the commercial vehicle (CV) segment are sold in India annually. Domestic manufacturers sell over 10 million tyres.
(Akron/Tire Review) Kumho Tire Co. has received approval by regional government authorities to build a $380 million tyre plant in southern Vietnam’s Binh Duong Province. Production is expected to begin in March 2008, with an annual output of 3.15 million units, according to Kumho. Jongsun Sun, general director of Kumho Tire (Vietnam) Co. Inc., said the tyre maker would invest $155 million for the first phase of the project, which will begin next month.
(Akron/Tire Review) In a move that appears to target the onslaught of overseas investment, China’s Ministry of Commerce implemented new rules earlier this month that increase government regulation of foreign companies’ mergers with and acquisitions of domestic Chinese businesses. The rules expand on previous provisions issued in 2003. The new regulations require regulatory approval whenever a proposed transaction involve a foreign company that has more than 3 billion yuan (approximately $376 million) in assets, more than 1.5 billion yuan ($188 million) in revenue within China, or a 20 per cent or larger share of the domestic market; give foreign investors more than a 25 per cent share of the Chinese market; involve a foreign company that has concluded more than 10 deals over the preceding year in related industries; result in a foreign company’s control of a famous Chinese brand or trademark; or otherwise affect ‘national economic security,’ a term that the regulation leaves undefined.
(Akron/Tire Review) A lawmaker in Liberia’s lower house of parliament has called on the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) to deploy troops on a plantation owned by Firestone Natural Rubber Co. to prevent its takeover by a criminal gang. A gang styling itself the “Bad Boys of Bomi County” recently threatened in a leaflet to occupy the plantation at Harbel, Liberia’s largest employer.
Following the public dispute initiated by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, Marco Tronchetti Provera has now resigned from his position as boss of Telecom Italia. Although Tronchetti Provera always claimed the acquisition of the Italian Mobile Telephone Company TIM and its integration into Telecom Italia was an excellent strategic move, last week he revealed that a split into two separate companies again would be even better.
(Akron/Tire Review) The Liberian Times has reported that Bridgestone Americas Holding’s Firestone Plantation Co. in Liberia has threatened to close down its activities in the country if the Liberian government does not help control illegal tapping at the facility.
According to the paper, outsiders have been “on a rampage” over the last several months, illegally tapping natural rubber trees on Firestone Plantation grounds. Allegedly, this illegal activity has also resulted in the deaths of five Plantation contractors and injuries to dozens of company employees.
John Nelson, who sadly passed away in July, was the kindest, most humorous, unassuming, modest and caring person you could have the good fortune to know, writes the GEA: He was a gentleman in every sense of the word and a devoted family man.
Born and raised in Somerset in the village of Blagdon, near Weston-Super-Mare and in Bristol. He achieved a scholarship to Colston School in Bristol where he enjoyed maths, physics and Latin as well as representing the school at rugby. This famous old school has produced many international players and as John would freely admit; there was never a chance of him becoming one of them!
Controversial new plans being considered by the UK government could result in motorist who use “quiet tyres” paying less tax. The focus of the proposed legislation is a reduction in road noise produced by the tyres. Critics have suggested the proposals are impractical. As well as causing disturbance to people living near major roads and motorways, tyre noise has been found to reduce driver concentration, with consequent effects on road safety.
Car output in Russia rose 9.5 per cent year on year to 646,000 units in January-June, the industry and energy ministry reported. The ministry attributed the growth to an increase in car output by Avtoframos, a joint venture between the Moscow city government and Renault; Ford; the GM-AvtoVAZ JV; IzhAvto, TagAZ, and Severstal-Auto; and Russian car assembly plant Avtotor, a Prime-Tass report said. Truck output in Russia rose 18.4 per cent in the first half of the year, said the ministry, but did not provide any detailed data. The ministry attributed the growth to an increase in light commercial vehicle output by Russian automakers GAZ, UAZ and TagAZ.
A Canadian union leader has said that expansion plans for a Michelin plant on Canada’s east coast expose “the company’s long-term strategy to rid itself of unionised plants.” Michelin is to expand its non-unionised factory in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, with a provincial contribution of between $3 million and $8 million, a government source told the Canadian press. Dozens of jobs will be created according to reports.
On 18 July the US Tire Industry Association (TIA) announced its support of House Resolution 5632, after “much deliberation,” TIA has decided to support H. R. 5632. The TIA Government Affairs Committee was able to come to a consensus after weighing the pros and cons of the legislation, the association said in a statement. “We were very pleased to receive feedback and questions from our membership regarding H.R. 5632,” said TIA President, Bob Malerba. “It was extremely helpful to our Government Affairs Committee in making a decision on whether to support the bill.”
In order to better predict the critical performance of tyres in vehicle dynamics, Mechanical Simulation Corporation has created a partnership with Netherlands-based TNO Automotive. Mechanical Simulation’s CarSim software will now link with TNO’s Delft-Tyre using Simulink.
Many engineers in design, development, testing and planning activities use CarSim, Mechanical Simulation’s software package for simulating the dynamic vehicle behavior of cars, light trucks and utility vehicles. CarSim animates simulated tests and generates about 600 output variables that can be plotted and analysed, or transferred to other software for processing using the same methods used for measured test data.
A team of four students from Anglia Ruskin University beat nine other entries on 31 July to be declared the champion of i10 Innovators: The Business Plan Competition with a plan for a self powering tyre pressure monitoring system TPMS. Andrew Lyall, Carine Kruger, David Boardman and the absent Jan Vondras (currently working in America) made up the winning ‘Innoflate’ team. The former students met while completing their MBAs at the university in Cambridge. Their idea is to produce an innovative tyre pressure monitor called ‘AirCzecher’, which is named for the Czech-born Jan Vondras who had the initial idea.
(Akron/Tire Review) The United Steelworkers (USW) has filed a complaint with the US State Department against German tyre and auto system maker Continental AG, alleging breaches of the Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Construction work for Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co., Ltd.’s Thailand factory officially got underway following a groundbreaking ceremony on 1 August. Approximately fifty people including government officials, police representatives and other guests as well as Thai president Tetsuharu Mino attended the ceremony. The factory is due to start production early in 2007. It will produce high quality tyres under a new efficient production system named Taiyo. Capacity is expected to reach 8,000 units per day by the end of 2007. SRI told local news sources that it is aiming for a 10 per cent market share in the ASEAN nations in the coming years.
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