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Pirelli has detailed plans to put the second half of its US$400 million investment in the company’s Silao, Mexico factory towards so-called “green performance” tyre production. Mexico’s president Enrique Peña Nieto met with a delegation of Pirelli’s top management who illustrated the progress of the company’s investment in the country at the announcement.
Toyo Tire & Rubber appears likely to increase production in the US. Company president Akira Nobuki has been quoted by Bloomberg as saying that US manufacturing is “making a comeback” and that Toyo can “can picture the scenario of jobs coming back” and expansion occurring in this market.
Less than a month after inaugurating its 100,000 tonne per annum butyl rubber plant in Singapore and six weeks after launching a new curing bladder facility in Brazil, Lanxess has celebrated the opening of another production site that will serve the tyre and automotive industries. The company’s first facility in Russia, a polymer-bound rubber additives plant operated by its Rhein Chemie subsidiary, officially opened on 4 July, creating around 40 jobs; a second facility at the plant site in Lipetsk, which will produce bladders for use in tyre production, will open in 2016.
Just Tyres has opened a new centre in Newbury, Berkshire on the site formerly run by A&B Tyres. The independent garage reportedly invested more than £500,000 in the new centre, creating six new jobs in the process. This investment, including extensive renovation work and new state-of-the-art machinery, is being backed by Bridgestone, which is offering a series of sales incentives to coincide with discount offers on its range at the store.
The awaited announcement regarding the closure Michelin’s Joué-lès-Tours truck tyre plant in France arrived on 10 June and was accompanied by news of the company’s intention to invest €800 million in its French facilities over the coming six years. The tyre maker has also announced the end of truck tyre production in Algeria and the sale of this operation.
With no buyers seeking to purchase it, the closure of Goodyear’s Amiens Nord tyre manufacturing facility now looks inevitable. And according to various French news reports, France's government has now faced up to the fact that this means the loss of up to 1,200 jobs.
Indeed closure is now the only option on the table after the French Agency for International Investment (AFII) contacted 57 potentially suitable of which just eight said they would be interested. Of these five signed confidentiality agreements and two non-binding offers were presented, but France's Economic Redevelopment Ministry said "after careful examination of the plans put forward," no candidates were in a position to present a binding offer.
Hankook Tire and the Hungarian Government have jointly announced details of further investment in the tyre manufacturer’s European production facility, located 60 kilometeres south of Budapest. Hankook plans to invest some 313 million euros in adding a further manufacturing unit to the site, which will create over 950 new jobs and further boost Hankook’s production volume in Europe, bringing capacity up to 17 million tyres per year.
At a ceremony held yesterday in Włocławek, Poland in the presence of the Belgian Ambassador to Poland, the mayor of Włocławek and other local dignitaries, Solvay officially broke ground for the construction of a new facility that will produce Highly Dispersible Silica (HDS). The new plant represents a €75-million investment that will create more than 50 new jobs and expand the company’s HDS capacity by 85,000 tons per year.
Lanxess’ Rhein Chemie business unit has opened a new production facility at its Porto Feliz site in Brazil. The facility produces ‘Rhenoshape’ high-performance curing bladders for use in tyre manufacture and has an annual capacity of approximately 170,000 bladders. Rhein Chemie says the plant employs state-of-the-art production technology incorporating the latest developments in bladder technology. The new plant will be joined by a further new facility next year; this will manufacture ‘Rhenogran’ pre-dispersed polymer-bound rubber additives and have an annual capacity of 1,800 tonnes. Altogether, Lanxess is investing around 10 million euros at the Porto Feliz site and creating up to 60 new jobs.
Roughly half of the 30 million-odd tyres sold to UK motorists each year are delivered through tyre specialists, a figure that is broadly comparable with figures across Europe. And while there are some noteworthy differences between the structure of the UK tyre market and mainland Europe in general, perhaps the most interesting details are to be found within this 50 per cent. That’s why in this month’s retail chains/buying groups feature Tyres & Accessories considers the state and make-up of the sell-out market and releases the details of latest top 20 tyre retail chains survey. As well as our own research we consider data compiled and analysed by four well-known third-party research firms, however for commercial and confidentiality reasons we aren’t citing the sources individually each time they are mentioned. Instead this year’s retail report analyses their input and presents our view of the consensus.
For the first time in two and a half years the general UK retail performance has improved. However, unless something changes the second quarter of 2013 is set to “flat line”, according to the Retail Think Tank.
Following its quarterly meeting in April, the KPMG/Ipsos Retail Think Tank (RTT) reported that the downward trajectory that has plagued UK retail since the start of 2011 finally turned around in quarter one of 2013, although a significant increase in the health of UK retailing is unlikely to arrive any time soon. The RTT’s Retail Health Index improved one point to 77 points, thanks to a marginal lift in demand, which would have been better still had it not been for the prolonged extension of wintry weather throughout the whole quarter.
Although admitting that difficulties were encountered in the first quarter of 2013, Continental says it “held its ground” during this period and has confirmed its guidance for the full year.
Cordenka celebrated 75 tyre cord manufacturing on 25 April 2013. The company’s Obernburg location has been producing technical viscose yarn under the Cordenka name since 1938. And for the seven and half decades since then its products have been used as reinforcing material for tyres and other technical rubber goods.
The Governor of Mississippi has commented on Yokohama’s decision to locate its new US truck and bus tyre plant within his state. “This is an historic day for Mississippi, and we are proud to welcome this world-leader in tyre manufacturing to our great state,” said Gov. Phil Bryant. “The passing of this legislation will result initially in 500 new jobs, with the potential to create up to 2,000 total jobs, and it will have a positive impact on the state’s economy for years to come.
US publication Tire Review reports that Northwestern Mississippi and western Tennessee are “abuzz with rumours over what automotive or tyre company plans to build a significant production facility in the region.” Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant has called the state legislature into a special session on 26 April to consider a batch of economic incentives to lure a company to the state, and Tire Review says that a local newspaper describes the company in question as being a “Japanese” tyre company that wants to build a plant there.
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