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.
On 22 March, Shen Jinrong, chairman of ZC Rubber, summarised the Chinese tyre industry after the epidemic at the China Rubber Conference 2023. He said that during the three years of the epidemic (2020-2022), China’s tyre industry’s business environment and ecological chain had undergone significant changes.
On 30 March, Giti began construction of its new tyre factory in Anhui Province, China. The specific location of the project is Changfeng County, Hefei, Anhui. On the 31st, Yu Aihua, secretary of the Hefei Municipal Party Committee, went to the construction site to investigate and stressed that it would be completed and put into operation within 12 months.
While Sentury recently confirmed it is investing in a factory across the Mediterranean in Morocco, on 27 March 2023 officials once again confirmed that the Spain factory is set to begin construction this year. In addition, at the same time, executives agreed to prioritise the employment of ex-Endesa workers when the local power station closes. Indeed, the mayor of Las Pontes, Valentín González Formoso, and Qin Long, president of Sentury Tire, signed an agreement to that effect.
On 23 March, the 100 millionth Yokohama tyre – Geolandar A/T G015 – rolled off the production line at the company’s Salem, Virginia factory.
Goodyear reported that fourth-quarter 2022 tyre production levels were 3.5 million units below 2021 when executives published the firm’s full-year 2022 figures in February. That move was enacted in order to “control working capital given the weaker volume environment.” Now officials have confirmed that they decided to extend the pre-planned winter production shutdown into the first quarter of 2023 in the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region in order to rebalance inventories.
VMI has launched its new VMI UNIXX Belt Maker, describing it as “a game-changer in steel belt making”. According to the company, the VMI UNIXX Belt Maker produces high quality endless steel belts via a special extrusion process that can handle a wide range of compounds.
LEVC (London Electric Vehicle Company) is celebrating the significant milestone of producing its 10,000th vehicle at its state-of-the-art factory in Ansty, Coventry, UK. LEVC has manufactured the TX – described by the company as “the world’s most advanced electric taxi” – at its groundbreaking facility since 2017. Since the first TX taxi was delivered in January 2018 in London, 10,000 vehicles have now been built and sold throughout multiple global markets, from Paris to Madrid, Cairo to Tokyo.
The opening of its new tyre factory in Zrenjanin, Serbia, makes Linglong Tire the first Chinese tyre manufacturer to build a production base in Europe. Truck tyre production represents the first phase of the enormous overall 999-million-euro project that represents the largest single foreign investment in Serbia and will soon feature car tyre production followed by the manufacture of agricultural and OTR tyres. Ahead of its official opening, as well as an interview with Linglong Tire chairman, Wang Feng, Tyres & Accessories had an exclusive tour of the site including a close-up view of the truck tyre production line.
On 18 March Jiangsu General’s Cambodian factory produced its first tyre, which means the tyre maker’s second overseas factory is now ramping up its production capacity. Jiangsu General said that the products of the Cambodian plant are mainly produced under the Celimo brand and are sold in the United States, Europe and Brazil.
The world’s largest rooftop solar panel installation on a single facility, according to Internal KEPCO Research, is being installed at Falken’s parent company (Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ – SRI) factory in Thailand.
Yokohama is investing US$82 million in expanding the annual passenger car tyre production capacity of its Yokohama India Pvt. Ltd. (YIN) from 2.8 million to 4.5 million tyres. The new capacity will be installed within premises of the Visakhapatnam plant in eastern India and is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter of 2024. At that point, the factory will be capable of building passenger car tyres up to 22 inches.
PJSC Tatneft reports that the Russian Governmental Commission on Monitoring Foreign Investments has approved Tatneft’s purchase of Nokian Tyres plc’s operations in Russia, a deal that was announced on 28 October 2022. That much was expected, some would say overdue. However, Nokian Tyres reports that Tatneft will only be paying around 286 million euros for company’s high-tech St. Petersburg factory and other local assets.
On 3 March, Sentury purchased 20 hectares of land for the company’s Morocco tyre factory project. Lin Wenlong, general manager of the tyre manufacturer, formally signed a land purchase agreement with the company in charge of the Tangier Tech City project. According to various reports, Sentury will use this piece of land located in Mohammed VI Tangier Tech City to build a factory in Morocco. The project is scheduled to start construction in July 2023 ahead of an 18-month construction period.
Despite initially planning to sell its Davydovo, Russia tyre production plant to the factory’s local management, Michelin is now in talks with Moscow-based Power International Shiny LLC. Michelin reportedly hopes to reach an agreement with the new buyers “soon”.
10 years after Apollo Tyres’ bid to acquire Cooper Tire fell through, vice-chairman and managing director Neeraj Kanwar says the company is putting its emphasis on back on North America and even hinted at the goal of building a tyre production facility there.
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China Rubber Conference 2023
Li Yu; Hefei Daily
Las Pontes Council
Yokohama
VMI
LEVC
Linglong
Jiangsu General
Sumitomo Rubber Industries
Yokohama
Tatneft
China Road and Bridge Corporation
Apollo Tyres