India
India’s JK Tyre has told the country’s Economic Times that it will likely increase the price of its product range by a figure of up to 4 per cent. The rise would be put down to higher costs, especially natural rubber. The online report also said that JK Tyres’s prices have risen by more than 10 per cent since May.
Since 2007 the world’s biggest tyre industry show, Reifen has had an annually-held Chinese twin event named Reifen China. 25-27 November, 2010 sees the fourth “Asian Essen Tyre Show” taking place at the Shanghai New International Expo Center in Pudong, Shanghai in a joint-organised event between the China United Rubber Corporation and Messe Essen, the latter coming off the back of another successful Reifen expo in Germany back in June (see Tyres & Accessories, July 2010). As always, Reifen China will be held in parallel with the latest Rubber Tech event and cover manufacturers, distributors, repair shops, recycling, waste disposal and retreading in relation to the Chinese and wider Asian market. A programme of technical seminars will run concurrently, with past subjects including tyre proving and testing, retreading trends and tariffs imposed on exported Chinese products.
Volkswagen opened a new factory in Chakan, western India in March 2009 and, along with the Skoda Fabia, now produces Polo models there. Russian tyre manufacturer OAO Nizhnekamskshina reports that it is supplying OE tyres for the new saloon version of the Polo, known as the Vento, built at the 115,000 square metre facility. Following the shipment of a batch of tyres for testing in late July 2010, the first consignment of Kama-Euro 236 tyres was air freighted to India.
India’s JK Tyre & Industries looks likely to increase its tyre prices by four to five per cent before the first week of September in order to offset the rising cost of rubber. The company’s marketing director A S Mehta commented that rubber costs have put the tyre maker under increasing pressure in recent times and the proposed price increase will apply to all tyre segments. JK Tyre last increased prices in July, when a three per cent rise was implemented.
Apollo Tyres reports the successful conclusion of negotiations with union representatives over the lockout at its Perambra factory in India’s Kerala state. After reaching an agreement with two of the three unions representing employees at the company’s so-called “mother” plant, Apollo has announced the end of the lockout which began on June 11.
A research report released by market research firm TechSci Research predicts that total turnover for India’s replacement tyre market will surpass Rs 200,000 million (£2.75 billion) by the 2012 financial year. The replacement segment currently accounts for more than 60 per cent of the industry, the report notes, and it has become a key focus area for manufacturers due to the higher margins its offers. In the most recent financial year almost 50 million unit sales took place in India’s replacement segment, with motorcycle tyres and truck/bus tyres the two largest markets.
Aluminium Wheel Manufacturer Superior Industries International has announced a net income of US$10.1 million for the second quarter of 2010, a figure that includes a $4.1 million loss on the sale of the company’s joint venture in Hungary. This compares to a net loss in the second quarter of 2009 of $21.0 million.
JK Tyre & Industries, manufacturer of the JK Tyre, Vikrant and Tornel brands of tyre, has reported a 32 per cent increase in sales in the first quarter of the Indian financial year. In the three months to June 30, 2010, the company achieved a turnover of RS 12,729 million (£171.9 million) and an operating profit of Rs 730 million (£9.9 million). Net profit for the quarter was Rs 195.3 million (£2.6 million), down 52.1 per cent per cent year-on year.
Over the last few years the Rösler Group has focused intensely upon marketing its licensed Schelkmann retreading system internationally. Currently the sixth facility to utilise the system is being set up in the east Canadian province of New Brunswick. As company managing director Martin Rösler explained to Tyres & Accessories, construction work in Canada is progressing rapidly. Truck tyre retreader Pneu ABC Tires Inc. will commence the precure retreading of OTR tyres there by the middle of next year, with the bulk of output being delivered to Swiss mining company Xstrata, who extensively quarries resources in eastern Canada and is an existing ABC Pneu Tires customer. The project is being implemented through a 2.5 to three million euro investment.
The bid for struggling South Korean 4×4 specialist Ssangyong submitted by Indian commercial vehicle manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd has been given the green light. Should an arrangement between Mahindra and Ssangyong’s creditors fail to be finalised, however, the Ruia Group – parent company of Dunlop India and Falcon Tyres – is reportedly next in line. A total of six parties, including Renault-Nissan, expressed interest in acquiring the debt laden Ssangyong, the smallest of South Korea’s five car makers.
Giti Tire USA certainly made a lasting impression with its very first product demonstration event in North America – blistering track speeds on a blistering hot day in Arizona, reports Tire Review. The company unveiled its new Champiro HPY ultra-high performance line at Firebird International Raceway, where air temperatures hovered around 106˚F and track asphalt temps were measured at 160˚F-plus. And based on the response of dealers and media attending the event and putting the new radial through its paces, the Champiro HPY lived up to its billing. Even after three lengthy road course driving sessions, the HPYs on a collection of BMW and Mercedes models showed no ill effects and none of edge feathering one would expect under such extreme conditions.
India’s MRF Ltd reports net sales of Rs 19,254 million (£258.2 million) in the quarter ended June 30, 2010, an increase of 33.9 per cent compared with the same period last year. The tyre maker recorded an operating profit margin of 9.07 per cent, down from 18.09 per cent, and a net profit margin of 3.20 per cent, down from 8.74 per cent. Net profit in the quarter to June 30 amounted to Rs 615.90 million (£8.3 million) a drop of 51.0 per cent.
India has been chosen as the venue for the third annual rubber conference organised by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC). The conference is to be held on October 6 in Cochin, Kerala State, and the organiser reports than more than 120 international participants have already registered to participate. The theme of the on-day conference is “Natural Rubber Industry in the New Decade: Opportunities, Challenges and Strategies”, and the ANRPC says it will be unique in providing an international meeting point and an ideal platform for meaningful interactions and networking between rubber industry players, policy makers, researchers and analysts across countries.
On August 1 the German tyre component manufacturer Gumasol-Werke Dr. Mayer GmbH & Co. KG became a subsidiary of India’s Ruia Group. The firm will continue operation at its site in the Rhineland-Palatinate town of Germersheim under the name Gumasol Rubber-Tec GmbH and all 110 jobs at the plant have been retained. Gumasol describes its acquisition by the Ruia Group as “a new chapter” for a company “rich in tradition”, and comments that the incorporation of a previously medium-sized firm into an international enterprise “offers very good perspectives for Gumasol-Werke.”
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed on August 4 between JK Tyre and Industries and India’s Tamil Nadu Government for the establishment of a greenfield tyre factory within the state. The plant, to be established with an Rs 15 billion (£204.3 million) investment, will produce both passenger car truck and bus radials and have an annual capacity of 5.6 million tyres.
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