India
In its interim report for the April to June 2011 quarter, Sweden’s Trelleborg AB reported net sales of SEK 7,583 million (£721.2 million) from continuing operation, up on the same period last year. Operating profit grew 9.8 per cent year-on-year to SEK 706 million (£67.2 million) and net profit increased 13 per cent to SEK 469 million (£44.6 million).
The July edition of Tyres & Accessories is now online our e-paper format. July's magazine features special reports on EDIWheel, EM/OTR tyres and manufacturing machinery, plus reviews of Automechanika Middle East, Autopromotec and a preview of the forthcoming CITExpo in Shanghai. Subscribers can simply click more to view the latest issue.
Commenting on Continental’s 18.5 million euro purchase of Modi Tyres Company Limited (MTCL), Nikolai Setzer, head of the German manufacturer’s Passenger and Light Truck Tire division, said Conti’s acquisition of a 100 per cent shareholding “underlines our commitment to the Indian market.” Both parties have agreed to keep commercial details of the transaction confidential, however the key points are that MTCL has now become a fully-owned Continental Corporation subsidiary and will be renamed Continental Tyres India Limited. The new entity will focus on the local production and distribution of cross-ply and radial truck and bus tyres as well as radial passenger car tyres for the Indian market.
Saloon car owners here in the UK have long drawn pleasure from deriding the “Chelsea tractor”, and giving drivers of off-roaders ample guff about their vehicles’ environmental hostility and shyness to leave the tarmac is a firmly entrenched part of our motoring culture. But it seems that over in India the 4×4 has yet to be tarred with this brush. Recognising their widespread appeal, Apollo Tyres has released a 4×4 coffee table book in conjunction with Autocar India.
On July 15, India’s Modi Rubber Ltd notified the Bombay Stock Exchange that the sale of its Modi Tyres subsidiary to the Continental Group has been completed. It informed the BSE that the entire shareholding in Modi Tyres Company Limited, a total of 56,046,680 equity shares, changed hands for a share purchase consideration of Rs 1,176,189,838 (£16.1 million) and a non compete fee, net of withholding tax, of Rs 172,295,100 (£2.4 million). Modi Tyres Company Limited is thus now a wholly owned subsidiary of the Continental Group.
The first staging of Tyrexpo India 2011 in Chennai was said to have been so successful that organisers ECI International have announced the dates for the next show in 2013. Managing director Paul Farrant said: “Our original intention was to review the show for several months before reaching a decision on a follow up, but we’ve already seen enough to make the decision with confidence that the show will be back in Chennai from 9-11 July 2013.”
On July 15 the very first course will commence at the new Michelin Training Centre at the tyre maker’s Chennai site. The centre, which officially opened on May 30, has been set up to improve the employability of people in the local area; the first course held there will impart English language skills, and other courses, including computer skills, accounting and vocational programmes, are already planned. The Michelin Training Centre is located within the Thervoy Kandigai Industrial Park in Chennai’s Thiruvallur district, where the Michelin is investing Rs 40 billion (£560 million) in a truck and bus tyre facility.
Existing speculation on Apollo Tyres’ intention to branch into the natural rubber segment has been boosted by an article in India’s Business Standard newspaper. This suggests that both Apollo and JK Tyre may be in the business for plantations in Southeast Asia. The two tyre makers’ dependence, along with their competitors, upon ever more expensive spot market purchases has locked them into a situation where external factors determine the price they must charge for their products; the attractiveness of eliminating reliance upon the fickle natural rubber market is therefore very easy to understand.
Pirelli returns to Formula One in the United Kingdom this week for what the company says is a second home Grand Prix this season, after the Italian Grand Prix, since the company employs around 50 at its logistics and distribution facility at Didcot, 45 minutes from Silverstone by car. The 12 engineers assigned to F1’s teams and the 19 tyre fitters whose job it is to put the tyres on the rims are based there too, alongside its 12 carbon black trucks: two service trucks, seven tyre transporters, and three trucks for the hospitality unit.
The inaugural staging of Tyrexpo India 2011 in Chennai reportedly got off to a strong start, according to the exhibition’s organisers. The show was opened by guest of honour Sudarsan Varadaraj, managing Director of Elgi Rubber Company. He welcomed the show to India saying that the timing was right for an event that showcased the best of India’s emerging tyre and equipment aftermarket. He also pointed to a changing mind-set among domestic buyers, away from a purely price-led approach to one that was increasingly sophisticated and recognised the importance of overall value and long-term benefit.
Zafco announced the launch of its India operations at Tyrexpo India 2011, in Chennai, which opened on 5 July. At the trade show Zafco will exhibit the Double Coin as well as Zeetex brands it carries. The set up in India will see the establishment of 84 trucking centres across Northern and Western India that will meet the demands of the industrial and commercial sector. This will also provide a foundation for ZAFCO to eventually launch into the premium segment of the tyre market.
After ending the 2010-11 financial year with a net loss of Rs 2.1 billion (£29.1 million), India’s Kesoram Industries has announced its intention to restructure the management of its Birla Tyres business unit and increase its focus on passenger car and two-wheeler tyre production. In a statement, Kesoram director (and daughter of company head Basant Kumar Birla) Manjushree Khaitan said “the company is hopeful of rebounding this year as it is in the process of putting in a recovery plan in place which includes among other things a strong management team for the tyre division, higher capacity utilisation, a more aggressive marketing policy and a change in the product mix towards high margin passenger car and two-wheeler tyres.”
At Autopromotec the chairman and managing director, Sudarsan Varadaraj told T&A: "Elgi’s objective is to provide solutions for the rubber industry. This embraces raw materials including reclaimed rubber, compounds, etc.; rubber products for repair solutions to tyres, tubes, conveyor belts etc.; repair tools and accessories for brazed abrasive tools, high speed cutters, etc.; and rubber processing machinery used in retreading equipment, presses, etc."
Indian-based industrial tyre manufacturer Emrald Resilient Tyres has opened a European operation. Based in Kalmthout near Antwerp in Beglium the business, which was founded six months ago, is headed by V I Srinivas. According to company representatives, the operation consists of a marketing office and warehouse, which contains 4-5 container loads of stock and achieves about the same amount in throughput.
An article first published by Bloomberg on June 29 and subsequently reprinted in a number of newspapers around the world has thrown the spotlight on the effect demand for commodities from China and other emerging markets is having on the price of mining tyres. The Bloomberg journalist, Elisabeth Behrmann, compares the price for “tyres about 3.5 metres (11 feet) across,” such as those fitted to Caterpillar trucks employed in for iron ore and coal haulage, are fetching around US$100,000 on the spot market. Behrmann’s figures come from Australian contract miner Leighton Holdings, who works projects for mining majors such as BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto; in reporting the current spot price, she notes it lies above the US price for a Porsche 911 Carrera S or a condominium in Miami. UK buyers, it must be said, have to shell out around 33 per cent more for this particular Porsche model than their American counterparts. But you get the idea.
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