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The Petrol Retailers’ Association (PRA) has submitted evidence to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) on the state of the UK retail fuels sector. The Parliamentary BIS Select Committee recently launched an inquiry into the UK retail market to question the effects regulations and costs have on the sector.
On 10 April the head of Continental’s Tire division, Nikolai Setzer, and Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico signed a Memorandum of Understanding concerning Continental’s consumer tyre factory in Púchov. The signing of the MoU at Continental’s headquarters in Hannover, Germany paves the way for an expansion project that will see passenger and light truck tyre capacity in Púchov rising by more than 5 million pieces a year.
According to figures published by the Rubber Manufacturers Association, or RMA, US tyre shipments in 2012 amounted to 284 million units. This is unchanged from the previous year – the RMA says a ten per cent increase in original equipment shipments offset a nearly two per cent decrease in replacement shipments, and it states this absence of overall growth can primarily be attributed to a “cautious consumer as well as economic uncertainties in both the commercial and consumer sectors of the replacement market.”
On 1 April, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations celebrated the implementation of capacity expansion projects at its Aiken County plant in South Carolina. The facility has begun production of an additional 12,750 passenger car radial and light truck radials per day following a US$346 million investment that has created almost 300 full-time jobs.
When it comes to making cost savings in Europe, Michelin’s management is not ruling anything out. In a clear sign of the pressure tyre manufacturers are under in Europe, Michelin is said to be considering headcounts and manufacturing capacities. The fact that such things are being discussed so openly could also be interpreted as a sign that the company is trying to allay investor questions related to what action it is taking to address the tough conditions the market has found itself in.
The proposed four year contract for three of Titan International’s factories in the US has been accepted in votes held by the United Steelworkers union. Union members at the company’s Des Moines, Iowa, Freeport, Illinois and Bryan, Ohio plants voted in favour of an agreement that the USW says offers workers “wage and benefit improvements and a variety of contract language enhancements, most notably around the issue of forced overtime.”
Recently the French government was told it can keep its “so-called workers” at Goodyear’s slated-for-closure Amiens Nord factory, but news out of France suggests these workers may be offered an opportunity to keep their jobs, independently of Titan International or anyone else. On 26 February the CGT (General Confederation of Labour) union proposed forming a workers’ holding company, making the approximately 1,250 plant workers shareholders in the Amiens Nord operation.
Maurice Taylor’s run for the Republican Party nomination in the US presidential election of 1996 ended in failure, and following recent events it is also unlikely the party will keep him in mind as a future Secretary of State. As expected, French industry minister Arnaud Montebourg has responded to the Titan boss’s strongly-worded letter with a few choice comments of his own.
A significant milestone in the construction of Continental Tire the Americas’ Sumter plant in South Carolina was reached with the securing of the final beam of the million square foot (93,000 square metre) greenfield plant’s basic structure on 19 February. The tyre maker celebrated the achievement with an event attended by local and state dignitaries, who were given the opportunity to see construction progress first-hand. It is now eleven months since the groundbreaking ceremony at the 330 (134 hectare) acre site was held.
Michelin is one of several north Staffordshire companies to join an initiative to give young people an insight into potential careers in industry. The scheme, entitled “Industrial Cadets”, is a response to the concerns of engineering and manufacturing companies, who say there is a skills shortage in this area, affecting the sector’s ability to expand. Initially launched in Redcar by Tata Steel and supported by the Prince of Wales, Industrial Cadets is being rolled out nationally by the Engineering Development Trust (EDT).
Quinton Hazell Automotive Limited's administrators and its parent company Klarius Group have announced 117 redundancies at the QH Glasson Dock site in Lancaster and 79 redundancies at the QH Colwyn Bay site in North Wales. Both sites have ceased to operate. The news follows the announcement of the sale of the firm's Cheadle operation earlier today (which secured jobs there) and the closure of the QH distribution business in Hinckley, Leicestershire.
Klarius Group Limited put its Quinton Hazell Automotive Limited (QH) into administration on 6 February 2013. Following their appointment, the administrators reached an agreement to sell the Klarius emissions business based at Cheadle, Staffordshire to Klarius Products Limited, preserving 234 jobs. The deal will formally complete during the course of 7 February (today). In addition, the intellectual property rights relating to the QH business were sold separately to Tetrosyl I-Tec Limited, part of Tetrosyl Limited.
A report recently released by the United States International Trade Commission gives an overview of the country’s retreading industry, a sector within the tyre business that appears to be benefitting from an improving US economy and a supply-demand imbalance within the new tyre sector.
Italian elastomer firm Versalis and guayule biomass specialist Yulex Corporation have announced the formation of a strategic partnership to manufacture guayule-based biorubber materials. Within the partnership, the companies will launch an industrial-scale production complex in Southern Europe.
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Another expansion of Continental’s Mount Vernon, USA plant will commence in order to meet growing North American demand for commercial vehicle tyres. Continental Tire the Americas will invest US$129 million in the plant, with $95 million of the funds going towards expanding CV tyre production, including wide-base truck tyres. The expansion of the Mount Vernon plant’s commercial vehicle production is expected to be complete in mid-2015 and will increase truck tyre capacity to more than three million units per annum. At least 80 new jobs will be created.
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