Indonesia
Natural rubber production in the region represented by the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries – Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam – is expected to rise 3.0 per cent this year to 10.645 million tonnes.
Both Apollo Tyres and JK Tyre & Industries intend to establish new plants in Asia, and the chairman of the Indonesian Tire Producers Association says both firms are looking at his country as a potential site. Aziz Pane told Indonesia’s Investor Daily “the two investors from India are interested in coming here.” He added that each tyre maker would have to invest between US$300 million and $350 million in order to achieve a suitable economy of scale. He also opined that in order not to operate at a loss, the factories will have to be operated on a three-shift day system.
Giti Tire has announced the establishment of new technical centres in Germany and the US. The two sites will work in collaboration with the company’s MIRA-based UK facility as well as its centres located in Indonesia and China. Giti now employs more than 600 R&D personnel and describes the creation of a European and North American technical centre as marking a “significant development in the research and development capabilities of the company.”
The official opening for Hankook Tire’s new plant in Indonesia was held on 17 September. The facility in Lippo Cikarang, West Java – the South Korean tyre maker’s seventh global plant – was inaugurated in the presence of top Hankook executives, including Hankook Tire vice-chairman and CEO Seung Hwa Suh, Hankook Tire Worldwide president and CEO Hyun Shick Cho, and Hankook Tire CMO/CCMO Hyun Bum Cho. Also in attendance was Indonesian president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and several other Indonesian government officials.
For the second year running, Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd, trading as Maxxis International, has been named one of Asia's Fab 50 companies by Forbes magazine.
In explaining Maxxis' inclusion on the list, Forbes cited the company's record revenue in 2012, boosted by demand in emerging markets including Indonesia, China and India. Forbes also noted that Maxxis' net profit grew by 86 per cent last year to $530 million.
Bridgestone’s subsidiary on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, PT Bridgestone Sumatra Rubber Estate, will enter into trading contracts with local rubber farmers; it is said these contracts will promote cooperation between the farmers and Bridgestone Sumatra Rubber Estate.
Work on the Indonesian joint venture motorcycle factory part owned by Pirelli is underway following the recent groundbreaking ceremony in Subang, West Java. The Italian tyre maker is 60 per cent shareholder in the PT Evoluzione Tyres (Evoty) joint venture, with Indonesia’s PT Astra Otoparts Tbk holding the remaining 40 per cent.
On 28 May, JK Tyre & Industries poured water on news published by Indian financial daily The Financial Express, stating it had “no firm proposal” to acquire a tyre manufacturer in Southeast Asia for Rs 1.5 billion (£15.7 million) and that it had “not made any commitment whatsoever” to this effect. Yet at the time the company was still committed to investing in the region, specifically in rubber plantations. Now it appears this project has been shelved, or even dropped entirely.
Hankook’s results for the second quarter (April-June) of 2013 continue to show steady growth with operating profit up 11.3 per cent and sales up 1.4 per cent year on year. The company achieved a global sales revenue of KRW 1.87 trillion (1.276 billion euro) in the quarter, with operating profit marked at KRW 271.3 billion (185.2 million euro). The company stated that increased sales in the ultra-high performance tyre sector and premium brand equity helped it secure solid sales increases in its major markets.
For the first time in 20 years the UK hosted the International Rubber Research and Development Board’s International Rubber Conference in 2013. The return to the country is well-timed; the Malaysian Rubber Board’s Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre celebrates its 75th anniversary in 2013, effectively elongating the IRC into a week-long event culminating in a well-attended visit to the picturesque Brickendonbury Estate near Hertford, where TARRC is now based, and which for 20 years was the home of the IRRDB. On Monday 24 June the event, jointly organised by the IRRDB, the MRB and TARRC, opened in Mayfair’s Millennium hotel, with the morning sessions in particular providing topics of interest to tyre manufacturers.
A small family business in southern Italy is achieving excellence in the tyre repair niche. Founded in 1980 by Giuseppe Ferrara’s family, the company is named RFP, but the brand is better known in the industry as Tap-Rap; a name that is synonymous with specialist and advanced know-how in repairs. What distinguishes Tap-Rap is not only its specialised product, but also its patented technology, which Ferrara calls "a real transplant surgery."
Taiwanese tyre maker Cheng Shin Rubber is reported to be considering building its seventh plant in China. On 19 June the Taipei Times printed comments made to this effect by company vice-president Wu Hsuan-miao (吳軒妙) following Cheng Shin’s annual general meeting the previous day.
Cabot Corporation has announced a new agreement with Grupo Kuo SAB de CV to purchase its remaining 60 per cent equity in the companies’ Mexican carbon black manufacturing joint venture, Nhumo, SA de CV. Cabot will pay $105 million for Kuo’s current shareholding, of which $80 million will be paid upon closing, excluding cash acquired. Cabot says Nhumo’s position as a leading carbon black producer in Mexico will help to strengthen its global carbon black business, and help to meet what it says is a growing demand for carbon black throughout North America. Following the announcement Cabot shares increased 2.9 per cent, and the company said it expected an earnings boost of around $0.15 per share as a result of the acquisition in the 2014 financial year. Extending into the next three years, Cabot estimates that operational synergies could increase earnings per share by $0.05 to $0.10.
A deal signed between Compagnie Financière Groupe Michelin and PT Petrokimia Butadiene Indonesia (PBI), a wholly-owned subsidiary of PT Chandra Asri Petrochemical Tbk (CAP), will see the production of styrene and butadiene-derived synthetic rubber taking place in Indonesia through a joint venture firm. The agreement gives Michelin 55 per cent ownership in the new company, with PBI holding the remainder. The total investment is estimated to be US$435 million, with plant construction expected to commence in early 2015. Completion and start-up is targeted for the beginning of 2017.
Last year the Giti Tire Group increased its revenue by 2.1 per cent while its net income remained virtually at 2011 levels. The company told our sister publication Neue Reifenzeitung that revenue increased year-on-year to 3.02 billion euros; in 2011 the total revenue for Giti Tire and PT Gajah Tunggal, with their factories in China and Indonesia, was 2.96 billion euros. Operating profit jumped 42.9 per cent to 258.53 million euros, a figure that represents an 8.6 per cent yield on turnover. Net income decreased 0.3 per cent year-year to 113.17 million euros.
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