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.
In addition to being a tyre manufacturer Apollo Tyres operates a number of health clinics in India – at present seven are in operation and further establishments are planned. Through this healthcare connection Apollo plans to commemorate World AIDS Day, December 1, 2007, at all its manufacturing locations and clinics through a week-long series of activities.
The people at Avon Tyres say they have been listening long and hard to what their cruiser, custom and touring customers demand from a tyre, and handling, durability and aesthetics topped the list. So when it came to designing a replacement for the popular Venom-R, Avon kept its list handy, and the tyremaker reports it has more than met these requirements with a new tyre range aimed at the power cruiser and customiser market.
On 7th August 2007, UK based Klarius Group Ltd, acquired of the Emissions Control activities of ArvinMeritor Light Vehicle Aftermarket Europe (LVA Europe). With the purchase, Klarius Group acquired the entire shareholdings of LVA Europe’s Emissions Control businesses in the UK, France and Italy; Arvin Replacement Products Ltd, Arvin Replacement Products SAS and Ansa Marmitte s.r.l. Chairman, Tony Wilson commented, “We are very enthusiastic about the growth opportunities for the new company. Growth will come from the development of our products and services to provide innovative environmental solutions for our customers”.
Klarius Group’s market leading product portfolio includes exhaust brands Timax (UK), Rosi (France), Ansa (Italy), Tesh (Europe) and pan-european catalyst brands Metal’Cat and EuroCat. The new group holds a 21% share of the European Emissions Control aftermarket. In addition, Klarius will continue to market and distribute the Purolator filter brand across Europe.
Chadha Rubber is a member of the Chadha group; a vast organisation with interests in foodstuffs, metals, paper, rubber, handicrafts distilling and wine and real estate. In all, the group employs some 10,000 people. Products of Chadha Rubber include butyl rubber tubes, flaps and curing bags and envelopes for retreading. The tube plant began manufacturing in 1989 and covers a wide range of tubes for vehicles from two wheelers to OTR machinery. Domestically, the company enjoys regular business with the Special Defence Aircraft tubes and is actively associated with the various State Transport Fleet owners and Indian tyre manufacturers. Exports form a healthy part of Chadha Rubber’s business, with sales made in over 40 different countries, said Mr Ajay Bhardwaj, General Manager, International Business.
The attendance of Russian tyre major Sibur – Russian Tyres (SRT) at CITExpo 2007 was perhaps indicative of the unique position the Shanghai show holds as the largest specialist tyre exhibition in the world’s most watched market. Exhibiting alongside the Xarello Group, an important export agent for Sibur – Russian Tyres, the Russian manufacturer and the overseas wholesaler were not seeking to raise their profile with Chinese consumers, nor were they looking for local agents to distribute tyres. So what exactly then attracted the two companies to an exhibition in Shanghai?
The Agritechnica exhibition, held in Hanover, Germany between November 13 and 17 provided a platform for European and international tyre manufacturers to display their latest products. In the home town of Continental Tyre the Conti brand name was prevalent at the show. These days, of course, all Continental brand tyres are produced under licence by the Czech Republic based company Mitas a.s., and Mitas promoted its premium Continental range extensively during the show, along with its Mitas brand and, to a lesser extent, Semperit. Products showcased included the Continental SuperVolumeTyre (SVT), a ‘D’ speed designation tyre that is approved for speeds up to 70 kilometres (43 miles) per hour. The tyre was designed for machines with an output of more than 180hp, and as the name suggests each tyre contains a very large volume of air – ensuring gentle ground handling with high load capacities and the lowest possible tyre pressure. The tyre’s large ground contact patch ensures a good level of traction.
China at the start of the 21st century can claim to hold a position on the world stage enjoyed by Britain in the 19th – the People’s Republic is the undisputed ‘workshop of the world’, and its swelling output of manufactured products has seen the country grow to become the world’s fourth largest economy. Included in this swift expansion has been tyre industry production – recent figures indicate that China now produces some 330 million tyres annually. Of this amount 235 million are radial types, and two-thirds of these are destined for export. However, China has not merely grown as a production site for meeting the needs of global markets. The Chinese are quickly becoming a nation of consumers, and their appetite for vehicles is voracious. While only six Chinese out of every hundred own a car, research conducted by AC Nielsen indicates that China contains more people who aspire to own a car, but currently do not, than any other country. The outlook for tyre sales within China is thus good, and domestic demand is tipped to surpass export figures in about five years’ time. Whether buying or selling tyres, China is a country that provides many lucrative business opportunities.
Apollo Tyres’ plans to double its turnover to US$2 billion by 2010 involve expansion in Europe, and Neeraj Kanwar, the company’s joint managing director and COO, has revealed further details of Apollo’s intentions to this end. Comments made by the senior Apollo executive have been printed in the Indian business newspaper, Mint.
The tyremaker is aware of Europe’s value as a market, and is planning its entry into the market carefully. Neeraj Kanwar said that Apollo views Europe “eventually as a domestic market.” Therefore, the company’s involvement in the region is “taking time because we want to get the service infrastructure and the back-end (operations) ready.” A previous attempt at European distribution, in cooperation with Netherlands based wholesaler Euro-Tyre BV, saw only a limited quantity of Apollo Tyres products sold in Europe, and this working relationship has now ended.
A federal trade panel ruling in the US has provided a glimmer of hope for Chinese tyre manufacturers facing the prospect of tariffs imposed upon their products. On November 20 the United States International Trade Commission ruled against the American glossy paper industry’s request for tariffs on paper imported from China, discarding duties that the US government had authorised earlier in the year. The ruling stated that US makers of glossy or coated paper had not been “materially injured” or “threatened with material injury” by the subsidised Chinese products entering the market.
However the ruling did not dispute that the Chinese government’s programme of subsidising of products destined for export may be improper or illegal, therefore the door remains open for US tyre manufacturers, amongst others, to seek relief through the imposition of tariffs. Government policy introduced in March, allowing for potentially crippling tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods on the premise that China illegally subsidises some of its exports, also remains in operation.
An analysis of India’s manufacturing sectors, reported in Indian daily The Financial Express, has revealed that the tyre sector, after electronics, was the best performer during the July to September 2007 period. The total net profit figure of the eight tyre companies under the spotlight grew by 139.9 per cent to Rs 1.175 billion (£14.56 million) during the three month period, as opposed to Rs 489.90 million (£6.07 million) during July to September 2006. Of these eight firms, CEAT showed a particularly significant growth in net profit, increasing by 565.8 per cent to RS 255 million (£3.16 million) from Rs 38.3 million (£474,600) a year earlier. The total sales of this group of tyremakers increase by 4.52 per cent during the same three-month period.
(Akron/Tire Review) News reports say that by the end of this year Goodyear will spend NT$300 million (£4.5 million) on new production equipment for its tyre plant in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The company has been looking to boost its Asian market manufacturing as a means to reduce costs and gain a better foothold in the Asian market. The investment is expected to increase Goodyear’s Asian capacity to the point that by 2010 its Asian operations will represent 10 per cent of its entire global production.
The name of the Chinese tyre manufacturer Aufine is derived from the English words ‘all fine’, and according to the company’s general manager, David Sun, business these days is more than just all fine at Aufine. When Tyres & Accessories spoke to Mr. Sun at September’s CITExpo exhibition in Shanghai he was brimming with confidence about the company’s future, in particular with regards to export sales of its products and, more specifically, exports to European markets.
“For many people from overseas that we’ve met here at CITExpo, Aufine is a new brand,” observed David Sun. “Although we’ve been manufacturing tyres in China for 20 years, Aufine has only been exporting for one.” Therefore the new exporter of tyres from China viewed CITExpo as an opportunity to make new friends, so to speak, and Mr. Sun confirmed that the company’s main reason for attending the exhibition in Shanghai, along with promoting the Aufine brand, was to seek new agents in strategic export markets. To this end the general manager was able to confirm without hesitation that Aufine had been very successful in its quest.
Agarwal Rubber Limited was incorporated in 1983 and is part of the Agarwal Group; one of the leading private business groups in India, with interests in a number of fields, including automobile rubber products, tyres, tubes, flaps, cement manufacturing and real estate. Agarwal Rubber was the first company in India to exclusively manufacture butyl rubber tubes and flaps – products which had traditionally been manufactured by tyre companies – and the initial capacity was 200 tubes per day. This has risen somewhat, as today’s daily production capacity stands at 30,000 tubes.
The company is already well known for its Maruti brand of products, which include tyres and tubes for everything from two wheelers through passenger cars and LCVs to trucks and even tubes for aircraft wheels. Agarwal Rubber has recently extended its range with the addition of a new brand, ARL.
India’s RPG Enterprises is looking to boost capacities at its Phillips Carbon Black (PCBL) subsidiary. The Economic Times in India reports the company is establishing a 75,000 tonnes per annum greenfield carbon black manufacturing unit in the west Indian state of Gujarat, along with a 16 megawatt power plant. It also intends to increase capacity at its facility in the state of Kerala by 50,000 tonnes per annum to 85,000 tonnes.
RPG Enterprises vice-chairman Sanjiv Goenka told the Indian financial daily “the move is expected to catapult PCBL globally to the sixth rank in terms of the manufacturing capacity over the next two years from ninth now.” The total outlay for the proposed projects, at both greenfield and established sites, is estimated to be Rs 5,500,000,000 (£67.3 million) and will be funded by a mix of debt, equity and internal accruals, Mr. Goenka added. The greenfield facility alone will require an investment of Rs 3,500,000,000 (£42.8 million).
(Akron/Tire Review) Amerityre Corp. claims its airless Arcus run-flat tyre has completed and passed all required FMVSS 139 tyre safety testing. The tyre is made of specially mixed polyurethane, and is produced using an injection molding system. “Successful completion of FMVSS 139 testing on our Arcus passenger car tyre design has been a high priority for our company,” said Dr. Gary Benninger, Amerityre president and CEO. “With the final endurance-phase testing successfully completed, we are now in a position to begin substantive discussions with companies that have expressed an interest in licensing our technology and to provide them with sample tyres.”
According to Benninger, Amerityre will now focus on completing development of the manufacturing equipment required to produce the tyre in commercial volumes.
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