Imports
Cheap imports of scrap zinc-based balancing weights are poor quality and contain dangerous levels of heavy metals, such as cadmium. Premium weight manufacturers told Tyres & Accessories that preliminary research shows such imports may contain 50 times the level of cadmium currently allowed in the products.
Cheap imports of scrap zinc-based balancing weights are poor quality and contain dangerous levels of heavy metals such as cadmium. Premium weight manufacturers told Tyres & Accessories that preliminary research shows such imports may contain up to 50 times the level of cadmium currently allowed in the products.
See the January issue of Tyres & Accessories (published in the third week of the month) for the full story.
The tyre market in Poland is growing continuously. In 2005 about 7.67 million passenger car tyres were sold (+4 per cent on 2004) and this figure is expected to increase by another 7 to 8 per cent during the year, according to a report published by the German governmental institute BFAI. Consequently, this year about 8.2 to 8.3 million PC tyres will be sold on the replacement market in Poland. “Long gone are the times when everybody drove the same tyre all the time. The development in different market segments has been quite heterogenous,” the report points out. High speed and therefore high performance tyres have experienced the strongest growth rates in the recent past. The Polish low budget segment in turn is constantly losing market share.
Serbia’s second largest tyre manufacturer, Trayal Corp., is soon to be sold and therefore privatised. According to reports, the privatisation agency in Serbia has announced a public tender to bid for the traditional state-owned company. The Bulgarian power supplier Brikel EAD has now made the highest offer and will soon start to negotiate the details of the deal with the agency, local media sources wrote. The bid was £8.2 million for a majority share plus modernisation investments of up to £16.9 million.
(India/Rubber Asia) After over 70 years of its existence and continuous development, China’s tyre industry is on firm ground. The Chinese tyre-making sector has now evolved into a huge, full-fledged industrial system that continues to attract international attention. However, there are obstacles to be overcome. After becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), China’s tyre industry entered the era of diversified ownerships. And, the industry transformed itself into three types of ownerships – state-owned or state-controlled, private, and foreign-funded enterprises – from a wholly state-owned system. Thus, China’s tyre industry has entered a critical period and, in the process, is facing new challenges and responsibilities.
A “flood of illegal Chinese and Indian-made tyres” has caused two influential Indonesian tyre manufacturers to close. Aziz Pane, head of the Association of Indonesia Tire Companies told local newspapers that PT Intirub and PT Mega Safe Factory were the first casualties.
In 2004 PT Intirub (Indonesian Tire & Rubber Works Ltd) ran three factories and manufactured approximately 3.5 million radial and bias tyres. Around 66 per cent of production was described as “internationally competitive” and the management had previously described Great Britain as one of its markets. In 1995 the company established a technology cooperation with Cooper-Avon and, two years later began producing radial tyres. E-marking and ISO 9002 followed shortly afterwards.
Inter-Sprint’s latest news is that the company has released its Tyfoon product in a range of SUV-orientated sizes. The new tyres will initially be available in 11 sizes ranging from 15 – 18 inches in diameter and 55 to 70 series aspect ratios. Speed ratings will vary from H – V. Inter-Sprint describes itself as Europe’s largest car tyre import and export company. The company’s stock includes many European private labels, imports and all premium brands. With the help of the company’s own transport network, customers are supplied numerous times each week throughout Europe.
Slovak President Ivan Gasparovic and Omsk region Governor Leonid Polezhayev commissioned a new tyre production line at the Matador-Omskshina joint venture on Wednesday 8 November. JV Director General Stefan Prokop told the Itar-Tass news agency that in 2005 the main shareholders, Matador and Sibur-Russian Tyres (50:50 partners), approved the joint development and modernisation of the enterprise and envisaged more than 1.5 billion roubles in investment.
Immediately following the news that Goodyear would publish details of the progression of its negotiations with the United Steelworkers on a special website (www.goodyearnegotiations.com), the manufacturer published a copy of the letter it posted to the homes of all striking Goodyear Steelworkers in the US beginning on 8 November, along with a summary of the offer Goodyear made to the USW on 27 October.
Goodyear stock soared more than 16 per cent on 9 November after beating expectations with news about its quarterly earnings and sales. At the close of trading on the 9 November share traded on the New York Stock Exchange were valued at $17.67 per share.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has announced the forthcoming closure of its tyre manufacturing facility in Tyler, Texas, as part of the company’s previously announced strategy to exit certain segments of the private label tyre business. When it made the private label announcement in June, Goodyear said that the decision would require a corresponding reduction in North American Tire’s manufacturing capacity and that plant performance, capabilities, cost savings opportunity and the focus on serving NAT customers would dictate capacity reduction.
A weaker rand in recent months and price increases in raw material has put pressure on the South African (SA) tyre industry, according to the chief executive at Continental Tyres SA. Claudio Boezio told journalists the last 18 months had been expensive for the manufacturing industry.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has significantly enhanced its cash position by borrowing nearly $1 billion under an existing revolving credit facility. The company said it borrowed approximately $675 million on October 13 and $300 million on October 5 under its $1.5 billion U.S. First Lien Credit Facility. Thus, this particular facility is almost fully drawn, when including its $500 million deposit-funded facility.
Vehicle imports into China totalled 147,000 units in the first eight months of this year, the Xinhua news agency has reported. This is up almost 72 per cent on a year earlier. The imports were worth US$4.84 billoin and most came from Europe, South Korea and the US. Luxury cars and SUVs with engines of over three litres accounted for 49,000 of the vehicles imported. This was up 110 per cent on a year ago. The main buyers of SUVs were described by China’s General Administration of Customs as private mine owners, real estate developers and owners of private entertainment businesses. China lowered import tariffs on cars, cross-country vehicles and mini-buses from 28 per cent to 25 per cent on 1 July.
Hankook’s truck tyre division is probably the fastest growing part of the UK truck tyre market. According to Tyres & Accessories’ research, in just a few years the UK truck wing of the South Korean manufacturer has grown to the point that it controls between 6 and 8 per cent of the UK truck tyre replacement market. Of course the exact figure depends on who you ask and which figure you put on the total market size, but either way it is obviously an achievement. Now the company hopes to build on its recent successes by launching a new national breakdown network called Truck Masters.
With unit sales of 7.06 million expected for 2006, a domestic replacement market share of 26 per cent and thriving export sales, no wonder Lassa producer Brisa is expanding its manufacturing and warehousing headquarters. As Brisa (Bridgestone Sabanci Tyre Manufacturing and Trading Inc) continues the $176 million production expansion programme it started at its Izmit plant in Turkey in 2004, Tyres & Accessories went to see how the plans are developing and visit some of the company’s retail outlets in Istanbul.
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