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.
Cooper Tire & Rubber agreed on October 31 to extend its contract with USW Local 207L until midnight on November 21, 2008, to allow more time for discussion. The contract was set to expire at the end of October. During this three week extension period, production will continue as planned at the Findlay, Ohio tyre manufacturing facility.
Producers of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) and polybutadiene rubber (BR) in parts of China are reporting weakening downstream demand due to cutbacks in the tyre industry. One unnamed large tyre manufacturer in Guangdong province has recently shut down operations at its factory, and several other manufacturers in Zhejiang and Anhui provinces have cut operating rates by 50 to 60 per cent due to a lack of cash and poor sales, trade and produce sources claim.
It appears that the current auto industry woes are by no means restricted to North America and Europe. In India, the Hindu Business Line reports that major manufacturers of medium and heavy commercial vehicles have reduced their OE tyre offtake projections by about 40 to 50 per cent during the current financial quarter.
Every day the news seems to get worse – production cuts, decreased demand, shutdowns, plant closures – the US tyre industry is not, to put it lightly, in a happy place at present. The problems it and the automotive sector as a whole now face are of course only a fragment of a wider tapestry of economic woe, and the range of remedies tyre makers have at their disposal are limited.
Official figures now put attendance at this year’s CITExpo at 6860 visitors and 311 exhibitors. With at least three main tyre exhibitions operating in China, not to mention a tyre recycling and retreading fair, other related rubber conferences, and other exhibitions in the Far East T&A asked if there will be a kind of consolidation in the show sector, with the more provincial exhibitions ceasing to be international scale events. Wilko Fong, director of CITExpo organisers, Reliable Exhibitions, shied away from commenting on the relative success of other exhibitions. Instead he preferred to quantify CITExpo’s success on its own merits: “CITExpo is now a mature show and while it is still growing now, after 6 years future growth is likely to level off and mature. The show is likely to become a more regular established show for tyres.”
CITExpo has a character of its own. There may not have been a full complement of the top 10 Chinese tyre manufacturers present at the 2008 show, but large scale manufacturers such as Triangle and Sibur took very significant sized stands. Sibur’s reasoning for its involvement with CITExpo was particularly telling. Bearing in mind the fact that, at present, the large Russian manufacturer generally exports economy-orientated truck tyres, China (home to probably the largest manufacturing base for this level of products in the world) is unlikely to be the end destination the company was aiming to reach. In stead Sibur invested in exhibiting at CITExpo in order to meet European buyers sent east to procure next year’s stocks.
The Goodyear-Dunlop tyre manufacturing plant in Tonawanda, New York is soon to experience its first round of layoffs in nearly 30 years, say union officials. According to the Buffalo News, they indicate that around 100 people at the 1,100-worker facility may lose their jobs.
Automotive emission control and ride control products manufacturer Tenneco Inc. is to restructure its global operations. In an announcement made on October 29, the company said it would further reduce structural costs and capacity in response to the worsening industry downturn. Approximately 1,100 jobs will be axed as a result of the restructuring and five facilities closed. In total Tenneco expects to generate around US$64 million in annual savings once all changes are fully implemented.
Despite announcing the need to idle workers at its Finland factory to adjust production, the latest financial figures for Nokian Tyres shows a company doing well in 2008. Results for the quarter ending September 30 show net sales, operating profit and net profit have increased both during the three-month period and during 2008 as a whole.
Following an announcement from Cooper Tire that it would conduct a study into its US manufacturing facilities, local, state and national USW union leaders and about 80 others joined together in Findlay, Ohio to present their response – they want Cooper to continue production at its Findlay factory, and jobs should remain in the US.
Titan has reported all time third-quarter sales, profit and income results upon releasing its latest financial results. Sales for third quarter 2008 were $255.5 million, an increase of $60 million, or 31 per cent, as compared to $195.5 million in the third quarter of last year. Gross profit, at $37.4 million for the quarter, showed an improvement of over $19 million, or 105 per cent, from the $18.3 million recorded in last year’s third quarter. Income from operations was $21.3 million for the third quarter of 2008, rising $18.5 million, or 688 per cent, compared to $2.7 million in the previous year’s third quarter. Net income was $10.3 million for the quarter, an improvement of $11 million, compared to last year’s third quarter loss of $900,000.
Joint managing directors Simon Klapwijk and Henk van Dijk founded S&H Tyres in 2001. Between them they can register nearly 50 years of experience in the tyre trade. The knowledge gained in those years together with their individual charisma and undoubted negotiating skills has played in a big part in enabling the company to become an increasingly dynamic force in the wholesale tyre industry.
Pirelli Tire LLC’s Rome, Georgia facility has been recertified to ISO/TS 16949:2002 and UNI EN 9001:2000 standards. UNI EN 9001 quality system requirements form the foundation for quality management systems while ISO/TS 16949:2002 requirements are specifically geared towards the supply chain. The two standards are coupled together for use in the automotive supply chain.
“Achieving ISO/ TS 16949:2002 registration is a fundamental part of doing good business and essential to supply our original equipment (OE) and replacement tyre customers,” said Andrew Kearton, vice-president of manufacturing and OE sales at Pirelli Tire North America. “This recertification demonstrates our commitment to maintain our established quality levels, and importantly, to continuously improve activities throughout all functions of Pirelli Tire LLC.”
After a quarter of century at Michelin North America, one of the company’s top researchers has launched his own high-tech start up company. Drawing upon experience gained during his time with the tyre maker, former director of external research Ralph Hulseman plans to build a company around a technology that allows the moulding of microstructures and nanostructures into curved surfaces.
Manufacturers in Thailand are seeking a clarification from the country’s Industry Ministry over the status of a substance used to produce tyres. At present some 500 million baht (£9.3 million) worth of 100 per cent pure sulphur has been quarantined by the Customs Department, say the manufacturers, as the product has been ruled illegal. To gain access to the sulphur, the manufacturers claim they must pay penalties of two billion baht.
An opening ceremony was held on October 24 to commemorate the completion of Yokohama Rubber’s new truck and bus radial factory in China. Approximately 280 invited guests attended the ceremony at the Suzhou Yokohama Tire factory in Suzhou city, including provincial tyre distributors, city administrators, along with Yokohama Rubber president Tadanobu Nagumo and managing corporate officer Seiji Takai.
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