Manufacturing Archives - Page 113 of 258 - Tyrepress

Whether its raw materials, machinery, research and development or the latest manufacturing trends, this tag provides up-to-the-minute insights into the upstream part of the tyre industry.

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Rising Costs Force MAI to Raise MAXAM Tyre Prices

MAI Group recently raised its tyre prices by three per cent and Ian Thomas, head of Sales & Marketing at the company, warned that customers should brace themselves for a further price increase in December, of up to 10 per cent, as raw material costs continue to rocket. He said: "Over the last few months, we have absorbed the raw material price rises, but it has now reached the stage where we are reluctantly having to pass on some of the latest increases to customers."

29th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

TAFF Awards Tyre and Aftermarket Equipment Supplier of the Year – Apaseal

Apaseal won the Tyre & Aftermarket Supplier award, with the award said to represent the acknowledgement of Apaseal’s commitment to continuous improvement, quality of product and service. In order to achieve this feat the company had to outperform well known names Auto 4, Harvie Tyres, Pro-Align and Rema Tip Top Automotive UK. One possible reason why voters opted to support Apaseal is because the firm continues to play a leading role in the development of British Standards’ guidelines on repairs, and have been active with the introduction of what are seen as the norms today including – says the company – fitting valves, enhancing wheel balancing techniques and consistently providing the distributors with opportunities to achieve additional revenue and provide better tyre and wheel maintenance for the customer.

29th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Begins $13 Million Virginia Plant Expansion

Yokohama Tire Corp. is investing $13 million in expanding operations at its Salem, Virginia manufacturing plant, reports Tire Review. The project will include new tiremaking machinery, upgrading and modifying existing machines and an increase in high-performance and light truck tyre manufacturing flexibility. The expansion, which will result in a 10-12 per cent increase in production capacity, is slated for completion by August 2011, the company said.

28th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Analysts Predict Michelin Will Invest in Chinese Tyre Production

Referring to Michelin’s recent surprise decision to raise 1.2 billion euros of fresh capital, financial analysts at Morgan Stanley have predicted that the company is planning to expand its Chinese tyre manufacturing base, making this operation “a crucial BRIC[k]in Michelin’s future.”

When Michelin announced its plans to raise fresh capital on 28 September the tyre maker did any indications of what it planned to do with the money. This led analysts to suggest that “China will be a major focus for Michelin.” They believe Michelin is looking for “a swift increase in Chinese capacity” from their current level of around 2-3 per cent of output.

26th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

TVS-Owned Sun Tyre & Wheel Buys Watts Lanka Factory

Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems, part of the $6 billion TVS Group of India, has completed the acquisition of Watts Lanka Private Limited, the firm’s solid industrial tyres manufacturing company in Colombo, Sri Lanka. No details of how much was paid for the company or of the extent of the new owner’s expansion plans have been released.

Announcing the news Sun Tyre & Wheel Systems said it is “dedicated to serving the world’s material handling industry with a wide range of tyre and wheel solutions covering most applications and operating environments.” Watts Lanka Private Limited (which will be renamed shortly) was a joint venture between Watts Tyres Limited of the UK and KVK Invest JSC of Bulgaria, principal shareholder in Balkancar Zarya PLC. One insider told Tyres & Accessories that, as the sale relates to a purchase prior to Watts’ recent buyout, this had been considered as an option for some time.

25th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

US Yokohama Tyre Prices Rise

Yokohama has announced that it will raise its North American passenger and light truck tyre prices by 8 per cent on 1 December. The increasing raw materials, manufacturing and logistics costs are cited as the reasons behind the price hike.

25th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian Tyre Production Increases 29%

The period between April and August this year yielded a 29 per cent increase in domestic tyre production in India on the back of a sharp rise in automobile sales, according to a report published by Business Standard. This rise is made even more impressive when one considers the spiralling natural rubber prices in the same time-frame. The report states that the major tyre manufacturers produced 47.1 million tyres in April-August 2010, as opposed to 36.7 million in the same period of 2009.

22nd October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan-USW Contracts at 3 US Plants Under Discussion

Titan Tire and the United Steelworkers Union are to negotiate a new contract covering Titan’s three US tyre plants, reports Tire Review. Union representatives from Titan plants in Bryan, Ohio; Freeport, Illinois; and Des Moines, Iowa, are in Merrillville, Indiana, where the talks will be held. The USW contract with Titan that expires on 19 November lasted four and a half years.

21st October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

RMA Representing Tyre Manufacturers Only

The RMA said it has “successfully completed” its reorganization and is now a tyres-only trade group, reports Tire Review. Earlier this year, RMA’s board of directors approved a plan to restructure the organization to better serve the interests of its membership. The restructuring resulted in two separate organizations – one that represents tyre manufacturers and one to serve the needs of elastomer products manufacturers. Each organization is an independent 501(c)(6) trade association with its own board, officers, budget and management.

21st October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to Invest US$100 million in Argentina Plant

International News

Pirelli has announced plans to consolidate its already strong position in South America by expanding production at its Merlo, Buenos Aires, Argentina factory to 6 million units a year by 2013 with investment of US$100 million. The announcement prompted news agency Reuters to add Pirelli to its list of Italian “stocks to watch” on 21 October, owing to the fact that Argentina is “South America's number two economy.” By the end of 2010, Pirelli’s Argentinean sales are expected to grow by 55 per cent to $365 million and the target for 2013 is $500 million. This compares with 235 million dollars in 2009. Some news reports suggested the move means the firm "will move part of its production to Argentina, from Brazil and Europe." Company representatives did not comment on what, if any, affect the expansion plans would have on its existing European production capacity.

21st October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

£1 billion Carbon Stealth Tax; ‘Big Society’ May Affect Public Transport Fleets

Following the chancellor’s announcement of spending cuts, a row has broken out over what businesses have called a carbon stealth tax. The small print of the government announcement reveals that £1 billion a year raised from companies under the carbon reduction commitment scheme will go straight to the government instead of being fed back to businesses with good environmental performances – apparently without consultation. Considering that the many businesses paid £15,000 just to join the scheme – and significantly more in factory upgrades to compete for the funding – this likely to receive a hostile reception from those predominantly manufacturing business affected.

21st October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo to Acquire Malaysian Tyre Manufacturer

Company News, International News

Toyo Tire & Rubber has announced its decision to acquire all shares in Malaysia-based tyre manufacturer Silverstone Berhad. The company’s board of directors says it has a stock purchase agreement with Silverstone’s sole shareholder, Silverstone Corporation Berhad. According to the company’s statement, Toyo’s acquisition of Silverstone puts it in position “to make a full-scale entry into the fast-growing Southeast Asia market.” The stock transfer to Toyo from Silverstone Corporation Berhad is scheduled to take place in late January 2010 and will cost Toyo approximately 12,538 million yen (£98 million).

21st October 2010/by Chris

Goodyear Aviation to Double Radial Tyre Capacity by 1Q 2011

Goodyear Aviation has announced today at the NBAA2010 show in Atlanta that its radial aircraft tyre expansion project will be completed by the first quarter of 2011 – ahead of schedule – which will double the company’s radial tyre production capacity. The radialisation of aircraft tyres is a key economical and ecologically-friendly strategy in the aviation industry’s attempts to burn less fuel per passenger, since radial tyres are lighter than the bias or crossply alternatives. The move towards radialisation in the industry has been slow not just because of the changes required in long-lasting hardware, but also because aircraft tyres are retreaded frequently and crossply tyres provide extra casing strength to allow the process to be completed more times; an issue the UK’s Dunlop Aircraft Tyres chairman Ian Edmondson discussed at length with Tyres & Accessories earlier in the year (see below for a link to this interview).

19th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear 32nd on US Social Responsibility List

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company has been named one of the Top 50 US companies for social responsibility by the Boston College Center for Corporate Citizenship and the Reputation Institute. The tyre manufacturing giant earned a rating of 74.4 in a survey of US consumers, leading to a ranking of 32nd on the 2010 Boston College Corporate Social Responsibility Index. Goodyear is the only company in the automotive or tire industries listed.

14th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

MAI and Heuver Sign European Distribution Deal

In a major initiative, the MAI Group has appointed Netherlands-based wholesaler Heuver Bandengroothandel as the exclusive distributor of its MAXAM range of OTR and earthmover tyres in no fewer than 18 European countries. Speaking from the company's Verona headquarters, MAI Group’s European Sales manager Kevin Buckley described the agreement as "a fantastic deal for both parties".

11th October 2010/by Tyrepress Editors