India
Following Apollo’s admission that flooding in Chennai had affected its tyre factory, JK Tyres has reportedly experienced disruption to eight of its shifts. This equated to roughly 700 tons of tyres, according to the local Business Standard newspaper.
CEAT, India’s second largest two-wheeler tyre company, has signed an exclusive distribution partnership with Pirelli. Pirelli was once the owner of CEAT – Cavi Electrici e Affini Torino SpA – but RPG acquired CEAT in India in 1982. Nevertheless Pirelli continued to hold the global rights for the brand until five years ago.
It’s still sick and India’s government is still thinking of closing it – according to The Economic Times, plans to divest government-owned company Tyre Corporation of India (TCIL) are no longer going ahead, nor is a joint venture partner being sought.
Marangoni S.p.A. has provided additional details about the recently-announced commercial vehicle tyre retreading joint venture it has commenced with Indian rubber recycling company GRP Ltd. According to the Italian retreading specialist, the aim of the joint venture is to “establish a pan-Indian network of tyre retreaders able to spread the quality of the Marangoni system to commercial vehicle fleets.”
The BSE has requested a clarification from India’s Kesoram Industries Ltd regarding a news article that states the company is reviving a project to manufacture passenger car tyres at its Basalore Birla Tyres plant.
India’s MRF Ltd has reportedly received approval from the government of Telangana to instigate an Rs 9 billion (£89.5 million) expansion of its Sadasivpet tyre factory in the state’s Medak district. The company first made its expansion plans public in April 2015, quoting an investment sum of Rs 9.8 billion and claiming the project would create an additional 900 jobs. The Sadasivpet announcement followed news in March 2015 that the tyre maker would invest Rs 45 billion in an ‘ultra mega project’ to expand its Perambalur and Arakonam plants in Tamil Nadu.
Indian reclaimed rubber producer GRP Ltd has announced its entry into a joint venture agreement with Marangoni S.p.A. The two partners will contribute a total of Rs 20,000,000 (£198,000) to the project; GRP says it will draw upon the Italian retreading specialist’s technical knowledge in order to commence the retreading of pre-cure retreading of commercial vehicle radials within India, and the company also expects the joint venture will strengthen its raw material collection network.
Apollo Tyres reports that sales fell in the second quarter – the Apollo Tyres-fiscal year runs from April 2015 to March 2016 – by 10.5 per cent to 29.8 billion rupees (417 million euros). Meanwhile, operating profits of 70 million euros represent a decline of just 2.3 per cent at 5 billion rupees. Net income, however, rose 8.1 per cent to 2.8 billion rupees (39 million euros).
Talking to Tyrepress about its latest expansion project, Maxxis chairman Tsai-Jen Lo has visited the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat in order to finalise plans for Maxxis’ first plant in India. The latest plant, joining ten other Maxxis plants located throughout Asia, is due to be ready for operation in early 2017.
Maxxis has confirmed that Maxxis/Cheng Shin company chairman Tsai-Jen Lo recently visited the chief minister of the Indian state of Gujarat, finalising plans for Maxxis’ first plant in India.
Indian tyre maker MRF Ltd reports it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Tamil Nadu to invest at least Rs 45 billion (£446.4 million) in two plants located within the state over a seven-year period.
The Asian Latex Conference 2015 and India Rubber Summit & Dinner 2015, which were held between 10 – 12 September 2015, were hosted at the Crowne Plaza, Kochi, by Rubber Asia. The awards in recognition of outstanding contributions to different segments of the rubber industry were presented at a ceremony during the India Rubber Summit and Dinner 2015.
The acquisition of tyre, tube and flap manufacturer Cavendish Industries Ltd. has been approved by the Board of Directors at JK Tyre & Industries. The Indian tyre maker is acquiring 100 per cent equity in Cavendish from Kesoram Industries Ltd. for just under Rs 22 billion (£214.6 million). According to JK Tyre, it and other JK Group companies will fund the acquisition by a combination of debt and internal accruals, and JK Tyre’s financial exposure is expected to be some Rs 4.5 billion (£43.9 million). The deal is expected to close in December 2015.
Only quite recently Apollo Tyres Ltd gave word that truck and bus tyre production capacity at its factory Chennai, India would increase from 6,000 to around 9,000 tyres per day, yet the company has now announced a further truck and bus tyre capacity boost for the plant. A filing submitted to the BSE following a meeting of Apollo’s Board of Directors on 11 August shares the tyre maker’s plan of outlaying a capital expenditure of Rs 12 billion (£118.7 million) to further expand truck and bus radial capacity in Chennai from the currently planned 8,900 tyres per day to 12,000 tyres per day.
Falling natural rubber prices have driven output in India down, and many anticipate that tapping of natural rubber will soon reach its lowest point in almost two decades. Last month the state of Kerala announced an Rs 150 (£1.51) per kilogramme subsidy to help small-scale producers, however Onkar Kanwar believes that subsidy programme such as this can only be of limited help.
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