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.
Orion S.A. has celebrated the completion of its first greenfield project – a carbon black plant in eastern China that will supply fast-growing demand in Asia. The facility in the city of Huaibei in Anhui province will produce carbon black for a variety of applications, including rubber, polymers and fibres. The site’s two production lines have a total capacity of 70 kilotons per year.
On 11 November, Jiangsu General announced it will invest 880 million yuan (approximately £98 million; €113 million) in renovating the all-steel radial tyre production line at its Wuxi plant. The renovation cycle is 18 months. After completion, Jiangsu General will increase its annual production capacity of 6 million semi-steel radial tyres.
Recently, Wanli Tire stated that to meet market demand, it plans to carry out a third phase expansion project in the vacant land reserved by its Guangzhou factory. According to the plan, the construction of the expansion project will be divided into two phases, adding a production capacity of 12 million semi-steel radial tyres.
Repeated loss-making quarterly results paired with global cost-cutting and headcount-reduction efforts throughout 2023 mean Goodyear has, understandably, received more attention than usual. Most of this has come from our own research, in response to third-party action – such as Elliott’s now-infamous letter – and off the back of the aforementioned financial results. Since all of the above reasons for writing about Goodyear particularly impact Europe, in mid-October Tyres & Accessories visited the Goodyear EMEA headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, to hear more about exactly how executives are leading the business through its current tumultuous times. The group of executives Tyres & Accessories met with specifically included David Anckaert, Goodyear EMEA vice-president, consumer; and Troy Scully, vice president, communications and public affairs EMEA. Not only does such an opportunity give Goodyear the right-to-reply, it also provides additional insights into the company’s current “transformation” plans. Indeed, that is where our discussion began, with David Anckaert explaining what is meant by transformation in EMEA.
Toyo Tire Holdings of Europe has formed an industry-university partnership for the research and development of sustainable raw materials with the University of Novi Sad in Serbia. Toyo Tire corporate officer Kenta Kuribayashi and University of Novi Sad faculty dean Biljana Pajin signed the agreement on 3 November in Serbia’s second-largest city. Toyo Tire produces tyres in Serbia. The Japanese manufacturer said that it intends to promote technology development through this industry-university partnership and wishes to contribute to educational policies in Serbia.
Continental is celebrating winning NTDA Tyre Manufacturer of the Year Award 2023. The National Tyre Distributors Association 2023 Tyre Industry Awards were presented on 19th October at the Association’s 94th Annual Dinner, at the DoubleTree by Hilton, Milton Keynes, UK.
Recently, Linglong revealed the latest situation of its Serbian factory. It is reported that for the business needs of the Serbian company, Linglong recently added a credit guarantee of approximately 18 million euros to the subsidiary. As of 30 September 2023, the total assets of the Serbian factory were about 7.94 billion yuan (about £893 million; €1.026 billion).
From 20-21 October, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Sun Chanthol visited Guangdong Province to communicate with companies operating there. Tyrepress China noticed that Sun Chanthol visited tyre manufacturer Wanli during that process.
On 30 October, Sailun stated that it plans to invest 1.47 billion yuan (approximately £170 million; €190 million) to build a semi-steel radial tyre project in Cambodia with an annual output of 6 million units. According to the tyre manufacturer, as the competitiveness of tyre products at Cambodian factories has continued to improve in recent years, existing production capacity can no longer meet existing customer orders. It is reported that the newly added semi-steel radial tyre products will be mainly targeted at overseas markets such as North America.
The Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF) and Pirelli Tyre S.P.A signed a joint venture (JV) agreement to build a tyre factory in Saudi Arabia. PIF will hold a 75 per cent stake in the JV with Pirelli holding the remaining 25 per cent and acting as “a strategic technology partner” offering both “technical and commercial assistance”. The plant is expected to start production in 2026.
On 21 October, Sentury said it had officially started constructing its tyre factory in Morocco. On 25 October, the tyremaker said it would add $193 million to its Morocco plant for 6 million semi-radial tyre production capacity. Sentury classified the additional investment as the second phase of the Moroccan tyre factory project. In other words, the total investment in Sentury’s Morocco factory has become US$490 million. After both projects are put into production, it will be able to produce 12 million semi-steel radial tyres annually.
moveero runs two manufacturing plants in Europe and four in the US, backed by “market-leading plants at Armstrong and Estherville in Iowa and at Wichita, as well as a Research, Development and Testing Center at Woodridge”. Around 18 months ago, the company went through a period of “quite dramatic and rapid change”. Along with a new business name, moveero also introduced a new mission and vision, all of which marked the start of a new chapter in its evolution. Now, work is underway on a new, fully automated weld cell at the company’s Estherville wheel plant, as a result of which, the company will double its production capacity of large wheels, up to 50” diameter for the agriculture sector.
Recently, Jiangsu General announced that it will invest 1.884 billion yuan (approximately £210 million; €240 million) to launch the second phase of the Chinese tyremaker’s Thailand factory. The expansion will add 500,000 all-steel radial tyres and 6 million semi-steel radial tyres to the Thailand production base. It is worth noting that the tyre manufacturer only disclosed that the project’s construction period is 24 months but did not announce the planned start and end time.
The car tyre production hall at Goodyear’s Debica factory in Poland caught fire late on 20 August. According to multiple local news sources, more than 20 fire engines attended the scene before midnight and no injuries were reported. Official statements issued by the tyremaker suggest the company’s truck tyre production area remained unaffected and that some passenger car tyre production resumed on 22 August.
On 17 August 2023, several government departments in Shandong Province, China jointly issued a notice relaxing regulations for establishing high-end tyre projects. A more detailed explanation is that some new tyre manufacturing projects will no longer need to eliminate the original production lines with the same energy consumption.
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Orion
Toyo Tires
Guangzhou Industrial Control