India
Pawan Kumar Ruia claims he has no intention of closing down Dunlop operations in India. Before activities can resume at the company’s Sahaganj factory, however, he wants the West Bengal government to arrange sales tax exemption and an agreement with employees assuring an increase in productivity. Production stopped at the factory on November 17.
India’s Ruia group has acquired two-wheeler inner tube manufacturing company JJ Polymers for an undisclosed sum, and Ruia is setting about raising capacity at the company’s Mysore facility in eastern India. “Its capacity is being raised to 900,000 per month,” said group chairman Pawan Kumar Ruia; previously the JJ Polymers plant had a monthly capacity of 375,000 units.
The situation at Dunlop India’s closed Sahagunj factory, reported this week on Tyrepress.com, looks to be at a standstill. India’s Financial Express is reporting that the two major trade unions at the factory – Citu and Intuc – have decided not to sign a bipartite agreement with the plant’s management. Both unions, it is reported, want the Indian government to be included in a three-party meeting.
The paper quotes Dipanker Roy, Dunlop Workers’ Union (Citu) general secretary, who said that he would be communicating with the country’s labour minister, adding that, “We have been to the [Dunlop factory] office to discuss the management’s proposal, but no one from the decision-making body was present.” Workers remain at home with the offer of a 2,000-rupee monthly grant from the company’s management, which followed the suspension of production.
According to the International Rubber Study Group, the European Union is currently the third largest regional consumer of natural and synthetic rubber. In 2007, Europe’s consumption of natural rubber reached 1.373 million tonnes, 14 per cent of global natural rubber consumption. The Singapore based organisation notes that European consumption increased 1.7 per cent since 2005, a much smaller increase that the 10.9 per cent growth in global consumption. For synthetic rubber, the IRSG reports the EU consumption in 2007 to be 2.616 million tonnes, a 20 per cent share of global consumption.
With the battle cry of large investment plans, Apollo is continuing its march towards the company’s goals of becoming a “Top Six” international manufacturer and turning over $4 billion in the next five years. The major Indian player is already in the process of setting up new factories in Chennai and Eastern Europe, though the company has yet to confirm the location of the latter.
Apollo vice chairman and joint MD, Neeraj Kanwar told the Press Trust of India, “We will invest about Rs 3,000 crore [£4.07 billion; 1 GBP = 73.7 INR] over the next five years. Me and my whole team’s desire is to be amongst the top six players of the world.” Meanwhile, Business Standard reports that Apollo is considering Slovakia and Poland for the location of its first European plant, having hit difficulties in Hungary (as reported on Tyrepress.com earlier in the year).
Dunlop India has felt the worldwide pinch, reacting by closing its Sahagunj factory indefinitely from Tuesday 18 November. Its 1,200-strong workforce has been asked to stay at home. Website IBNLive reports that company sources have reported that the company is running short of working capital and that it is in negotiations with the banks. It is believed that workers will be given 2,000 rupees a month until the factory reopens, though the website says that its sources believe that it could be some time before the factory resumes processing.
Meanwhile Sindh Today reports that a company spokesman told the paper: “The [economic] crisis has had a heavy impact on the tyre sector. We have a huge shortage of capital. So we called the union leaders Saturday for a bi-partite and told them since there is almost no demand, the company would be incurring heavy losses if production continued. And they agreed.” The spokesman added that he didn’t know how long the situation would remain the same: “We may get the funds in 15 days, or it may be three months even. We don’t know. But we are hopeful that we will be able to solve the problem fast.”
With vehicle sales in established markets declining, it is hardly surprising that manufacturers are eyeing fresh fields. India’s Tata has already unveiled the Nano, at £1,300 the world’s cheapest new car; now the company faces competition from international rivals hoping for a share of the Indian and other newer markets.
Toyota, along with its Daihatsu small vehicle unit, is said to be developing a new low-cost car for emerging markets. The vehicle, which would sell in locations such as India, Brazil and Africa, is said to have a planned price tag of around £3,200. Japan’s Asahi Shimbun newspaper reports this vehicle will be introduced in the early 2010s and manufactured in India. Toyota executives have not, however, confirmed this news, and are said to have countered that selling such a car under the Toyota badge could harm its brand image.
Ceat Sri Lanka, the joint venture company established by Ceat India, Associated Motor Ways and Kelani Tyres, will take advantage of declining world rubber prices to strengthen its position in the local car and truck tyre market. The company’s managing director, Rohan Fernando, said that “the global financial crisis has reduced global tyre consumption. Therefore, international rubber prices have also come down in view of the current financial crisis during the last few months.” With cheaper prices for the material that accounts for 40 per cent of a tyre’s construction, Ceat’s production costs are expected to drop.
News published by various Indian media outlets indicates that joint venture activities between Continental Tyres and India’s Modi Tyre Company are again underway. The two companies have previously worked together, however this relationship ground to a halt with the closure of Modi’s Modinagar, Northern India plant in 2001, following labour unrest and litigations. Seven years on, Modi Tyre is said to have invested around Rs 3 billion (£39.6 million) to resume production at the site.
According to a senior Rubber Board official, India’s natural rubber production has risen 19.6 per cent during the first seven months of the 2008-2009 financial year, reports Reuters. The total output in this seven month period is 476,865 tonnes. At the same stage last year, the figure stood at 398,850 tonnes. India is the world’s fourth largest supplier of natural rubber, with peak season extending from September to February. Though this peak tapping period will see a drop off in the last two months of ‘08-’09, it is still predicted that 875,000 tonnes will be produced this year, 6 per cent up from last year’s figure of 825,000 tonnes.
Meanwhile, this rise in production has seen the country’s natural rubber trade deficit close – imports are down 7.3 per cent to 48,799 tonnes, whereas exports are up 80 per cent at 32,760 tonnes. According to the Reuters source, total stocks were at 144,450 tonnes at the end of August.
It appears that the current auto industry woes are by no means restricted to North America and Europe. In India, the Hindu Business Line reports that major manufacturers of medium and heavy commercial vehicles have reduced their OE tyre offtake projections by about 40 to 50 per cent during the current financial quarter.
Automotive emission control and ride control products manufacturer Tenneco Inc. is to restructure its global operations. In an announcement made on October 29, the company said it would further reduce structural costs and capacity in response to the worsening industry downturn. Approximately 1,100 jobs will be axed as a result of the restructuring and five facilities closed. In total Tenneco expects to generate around US$64 million in annual savings once all changes are fully implemented.
India’s Commerce Department has, according to national media, commenced an investigation into alleged dumping of Chinese and Thai made truck and bus radials in the Indian market. The decision to launch this investigation follows a complaint lodged by national tyre industry representative body, the Automotive Tyre Manufacturers Association (ATMA).
India’s JK Tyre showed a loss of 323.70 rupees (3.97 million pounds sterling; 1.00 GBP = 81.58 INR) for the quarter ending September 2008, the company has reported. The same quarter in 2007 yielded a profit of 243.9 million rupees. Meanwhile, net sales for the quarter rose 27.1 per cent on the same quarter last year, rising from 6.88 billion to 8.74 billion rupees. Shares in the company earned 10.05 rupees each, meaning that there was a growth of 26.89 per cent on the previous year, when earnings per share were at 7.92 rupees.
The Financial Express in India is reporting that synthetic rubber production has fallen in July 2008, compared to the month’s figures a year ago. Output has been measured at 8,186 tonnes, down from July ‘07’s figure of 8,256 tonnes.
In the period April-July, however, more synthetic rubber has been produced compared with the same period last year. 33,439 tonnes have come off the production line, compared with 32,748 tonnes in the same period last year. This 2.11 per cent rise has been matched synthetic imports in the period, jumping from 59,960 tonnes to 76,890. A similar pattern can be seen in the nationwide consumption of the product; the 93,715 tonnes demanded last year between April and July has risen this year to 100,045 tonnes.
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