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.
Continuing Tyres & Accessories recent coverage on the potential impact of the forthcoming s-marking laws, T&A asks what specific impact the rules will have on the vintage tyre market. From 1 October tyres covered by regulation 2001/43 will have to have an “S” stamped on the sidewall at the end of its 7-digit certification code – and those that don’t will be illegal.
In late April Dunlop Nigeria’s long awaited end of local production was realised. Less than four years after the decision was taken to invest an estimated 6.5 billion naira (£29.4 million) on radialising plant technology with a view to further boosting commercial vehicle tyre output, domestic production has been replaced by tyres imported from South Africa.
The Dunlop Nigeria plant held a capacity to turn out 300,000 heavy-duty tyres per annum and manufactured products such as the Supersteel 315/80, which was launched in May 2006. Its demise so soon after upgrading is being blamed upon a combination of the faltering domestic economy and an influx of cheaper foreign produced tyres. The unreliability of power supplies in Nigeria is also said to have pulled the plug on the manufacturer’s competitiveness, and the company’s hope of a reliable source of affordable carbon black from local refineries was never realised.
Chinese tyre manufacturers and exporters are said to be preparing a response to the USW trade case against their products. The China Daily reports that they are receiving assistance from China’s Ministry of Commerce and from local industry associations in their quest to combat was is viewed as a discriminative case and a trade protectionism tool.
The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) has agreed to look into the case, making it the seventh and to-date largest (in terms of volume) subsidy related investigation the US has conducted against China.
As well as reporting from the this year's Tyrexpo Asia Show, April's Tyres & Accessories magazine includes features on High Performance Tyres and Vintage Tyres.
Amerityre Corporation’s Board of Directors has implemented a management restructuring that has resulted in the resignation of company president and chief executive officer Gary Benninger and the appointment of incubent vice president of marketing Michael Kapral in his place. Mr. Benninger joined the Company in October 2005, initially serving as its chief operating officer, before becoming president and CEO in September 2007. Mr. Benninger will continue to serve as a member of the Company’s Board of Directors.
“Gary has worked hard to put the Company in a position to begin manufacturing and selling solid polyurethane forklift tires,” commented Louis Haynie, chairman of Amerityre’s Board of Directors. “Now, with Mike taking the reins, we expect his knowledge and experience in the tyre and tyre product markets will launch those tyres successfully,” he added.
Less than two years’ after being granted approval by the Thailand Board of Investment, Yokohama Rubber has officially opened its ‘Tire Test Center of Asia’ proving ground in Rayong Province. Work began on the 2.5 billion yen centre in September 2007 and the site was ready for use last December. Although the opening ceremony was not held until April 30, tyre testing has been performed at the proving ground since January 2009.
Norbar Torque Tools in Banbury has been honoured with the Queen’s Award for Enterprise: International Trade for its contribution to UK manufacturing exports. The family-owned business proudly claims to be the world’s top specialist manufacturer of torque tools and this year celebrates 67 successful years. The award highlights a success story in a sector that has generally experienced decline.
Norbar equipment is used in diverse industries including manufacturing, sub-sea, aerospace, energy, mining, and oil & gas. In the past six years the Company has almost doubled overseas earnings from its worldwide markets and now exports more than 73 per cent of its output. Norbar has distributors in over 60 countries as well as nine of its own sales and service branches around the world.
To call what we have experienced in the first quarter of 2009 a bear market would be something of an understatement. And while in such ursine conditions the 14.2 per cent drop in net sales reported by Michelin is by no means any worse a performance than that experienced throughout the tyre industry, it is safe to say the French manufacturer is eagerly awaiting the next hibernation season.
Group net sales for the three months to March 31 totalled 3.512 billion euros, of which the greatest chunk – 1.946 billion euros – came from the sale of passenger and light truck tyres. Truck tyres accounted for a further 1.006 billion euros, and the company’s specialty tyre business the remaining 561 million euros. All of these segments experienced a year-on-year decline in sales during the quarter; sales of truck tyres, in terms of income, declined 24.2 per cent.
Plans for a tyre industry conference held as part of the next staging of Tyrexpo Africa in Johannesburg in March 2010, have been announced by event organisers ECI International. ECI wants to extend the scope and pulling power of the exhibition and has been encouraged to add a conference session by exhibitors and partners in South Africa. The one day conference will focus on key issues in tyre and rubber manufacturing, tyre retailing, developments in technology and the impact of new legislation. Keynote speakers will be drawn from the South African industry, together with major international players. The third staging of Tyrexpo Africa will take place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg on 4, 5 and 6 March 2010.
A Dubai based company has been named as a potential purchaser of Continental’s soon to be closed Clairoix factory in France. Representatives from both the tyre manufacturer and the Moaffaq Al Gaddah (MAG) Group have confirmed talks are already underway between the two parties, although specific details are still under wraps.
When the news that the European authorities were about to agree a new set of regulations for tyre noise, rolling resistance, wet-braking and labelling a month ago, Tyres & Accessories noted that early versions of the draft laws had (in 2008) provoked criticism from within the tyre manufacturing industry. A year later when details of the legislation’s first reading were published it became clear that the revised text had been substantial modified to better reflect the practical implications of implementing such far reaching legislation. With this in mind T&A interviewed European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturer’s Association (ETRMA) secretary general Fazilet Cinaralp, and chairman Dr Francesco Gori – whose membership includes all the leading European tyre manufacturers and those with production facilities within the continent.
Tyres & Accessories (T&A): A year ago ETRMA and some of the individual premium tyre manufacturers described the EC guidelines as unfeasible. What has changed since then?
Ian Smith has been appointed as the new managing director of West Midlands, UK company NDI Tyre & Tube Supplies – a subsidiary of Danish importer Nordisk Daek. Smith boasts a substantial amount of experience in the tyre industry, including a twenty-one year spell at Pirelli in departments dealing with manufacturing and development.
Smith is hoping to capitalise on the company’s position as a “multi-brand, multi-range tyres and wheels” wholesaler, suggesting that the appointment endows him with a “fantastic opportunity to further develop a company and realise its full potential across a number of different market sectors.” He took up the position on 2 March, 2009.
The US earthmover/off-the-road tyre market recently plateaued and is now even registering the first 'green shoots' of low level market increases, according to Luc Minguet, Michelin president earthmover and industrial tyres worldwide. According to Minguet, 2009 got off to a particularly rough start for the OTR business with OE demand plummeting 20 per cent in the first two months of the year and replacement sales down by up to 60 per cent in same period.
Upon reporting its first quarter 2009 financials, Pirelli commented that its tyre division experienced “signs of recovery” in March; these indications of better times came in the form of a slowdown in sales decline in some countries and positive growth rates in others. Various government incentives to boost new car sales partly contributed to this reversal of fortune following OE business contraction in the first two months of the year, Pirelli comments.
Whip out the financial righteous indignation/mindless optimism, for today is Budget Day in the UK, and Alistair Darling has a whopper of an idea to administer some serious cardiovascular stimulation to the automotive industry. The government is prepared to pay up to £2,000 towards a new (or nearly new) car when motorists scrap a vehicle that is more than ten years old. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the idea is taken from the Germans and other EU nations, where similar schemes have resulted in new car sales jumping up to 40 per cent in the last month. Citroen dealerships in the UK have reportedly seen a rise in new car sales following their own implementation of such a system.
However, questions have been raised about the value of investing tax-payers’ money in such a scheme, since many of the additional new cars sold through it will have been imported, while the vehicles to be scrapped must prove their roadworthiness to qualify; only those in possession of an MOT certificate will be able to claim money off a new purchase. Of course, without this latter measure, it is easy to see a loophole developing, through which opportunists may profit by buying an old car with the sole intention of using it to claim money off a new purchase. While these concerns are worth addressing, it would take a hardened cynic to foresee no boost at all for new car sales in the UK as a result of these plans.
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