Middle East
On November 16 a memorandum of understanding for a new manufacturing facility was signed between Michelin and the Tamil Nadu state government in India. The factory, to be established by Michelin India Tamil Nadu Tyres Ltd, will be built on a 290 acre site some 50 kilometres north of Chennai. The facility is to be erected in phases over a number of years, and the first truck and bus radials are expected to be produced there in 2012.
In the third quarter of 2009 Lanxess AG reports delivering a “strong operating performance”, with EBITDA pre exceptionals of 143 million euros. The specialty chemicals company had expected third quarter operating earnings in the vicinity of the 112 million euros earned in the second quarter. EBITDA pre exceptionals were down 26 per cent year-on-year but rose 28 per cent from the second quarter due to an improved macroeconomic environment worldwide, driven by China, as well as savings yielded by the company’s “Challenge09-12” package of measures, which are expected to cut Lanxess’s costs worldwide by about 360 million euros by 2012. Another key performance metric – EBITDA pre exceptionals margin – was 10.4 per cent; higher than the previous quarter and nearly reaching last year’s level.
On November 4 Continental AG announced the formation of an exclusive partnership covering the sale of its passenger car, light commercial vehicle and truck tyres in Saudi Arabia. This role will now be handled by Almutlak Trade & Industries. Continental reports its new MENENA business unit will focus upon business in the Near and Middle East and North Africa, a concentration of effort the German tyre major describes as “another logical step in building up a sales network.”
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s third quarter 2009 financial report showed sales and income improvements in comparison with quarter two, but the results continue to reflect what the company calls “weak industry demand”. Accentuating the positive, Goodyear states that it “sees opportunities as markets recover”, an idea reflected in the company’s launch of 57 new products over the course of the first three quarters of 2009 (15 in quarter three), a figure that surpasses the full-year target. Additionally, Goodyear has improved its liquidity, made year-to-date savings totalling $540 million and reduced its inventories by more than $1 billion in the period, while producing a third quarter segment operating income of $275 million, a figure that shows improvement on 2008, with sales 11 per cent up from quarter two at $4.4 billion.
While the final Grand Prix of the Formula One season could be thought of as a dead rubber – Jenson Button and Brawn GP having sewn up the Drivers and Constructors Championships in Brazil – the event holds substantial interest for tyre provider Bridgestone, as the company heads to Yas Marina for the first ever meeting at Abu Dhabi. The new 5.5km circuit, described as “exciting” by the tyre-maker, will see 1,800 tyres of medium, soft and wet compound Potenzas between 30 October–1 November and the company will be keen to see how the rubber performs, with the venue sure to see more action in the coming seasons, in addition to the strategic importance of the Middle East region to the manufacturer. The combination of medium and soft has been seen previously this year in Belgium and Italy.
Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe has joined the European Road Safety Charter, a pan-European initiative with the aim to increase road safety across Europe. The signing ceremony took place in Gothenburg, Sweden on October 26, 2009, in the presence of the Swedish minister for enterprise, energy and communications, Åsa Torstensson, representatives from the European Commission and the ERSC Secretariat.
SRI Tire Trading Ltd. has announced that prices for its Dunlop, Falken, Sumitomo and Ohtsu brand tyres are increasing in numerous markets. The price increases take effect in November, however Sumitomo Rubber comments that the exact date will vary from country to country. The planned price increases apply to the passenger car, light commercial vehicle, truck and motorcycle tyre segments and will take place in Europe, North, Central and South America, Asia, the Pacific, Africa and the Near and Middle East.
The less atlas adroit amongst us, when hearing the name “Republic of China”, may think of Beijing, Shanghai or centres of tyre manufacture such as Qingdao. At this point we’d like to draw your attention to a small island moored alongside the world’s most populous nation. The aforementioned Republic of China is better known as Taiwan, and US consumers – and their wallets – will soon appreciate the distinction between the two similarly named countries. Following its international debut at September’s CITExpo exhibition, the Atturo tyre range is heading stateside and will be shown off in North America for the first time at SEMA 2009. And since the line-up is manufactured in Taiwan, it is exempt from the new US tariffs on Chinese made tyres.
In the US, Pirellli is raising the prices of its US P4 Four Seasons and Cinturato P5 tyres by 10 per cent, effective 1 November 2009. According to the company, the move is a result of “market pressures created by the recent tariff on Chinese consumer tyre imports” as well as increased rubber and raw material costs.
Pirelli Tire North America’s price increase is the first move from the premium sector in response to the recent Chinese import tariff and suggests that, directly or indirectly, the tariff has an effect throughout the market. Pirelli previously said that only very small shipments of certain specific products would be direcly affected by the tariff and that its influence was “not material.”
Michelin’s first ever global advertising campaign got underway on October 6. The new campaign’s theme – “The right tyre changes everything” – is intended to illustrate the competitive advantages of Michelin tyres in media outlets around the world. The French manufacturer states it decided to launch what it calls an “unconventional” global campaign as a response to today’s increasingly competitive business environment.
No sooner had Travis Kang been appointed to the position of President of Nexen Tire (on 5 January), than he set off on visits to strategic markets such as the US, France, Saudi Arabia, Hong Kong, China – reportedly visiting each a few times. After one such week-long visit to the Middle East markets, he made a proposal to company executives: “After seeing the market of Middle East, I truly believe Dubai is the bridgehead for the new market. Let’s open a branch there immediately.”
Nexen Tire Dubai covers the strategic markets of Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Iran and North African markets. The Dubai branch opened in August, just four months after the initial proposal was made.
Georg Schramm, head of marketing and sales for Apollo Tyres South Africa (Pty) Limited, will be a keynote speaker at the inaugural Tyrexpo Africa Conference alongside next March’s Tyrexpo Africa’10. Schramm is responsible for all marketing and sales for the Dunlop brand in South Africa as well as Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland. He will provide an expert insight into tyre manufacturing in the African market.
He will be joined at the conference by Dr Etienne Human, chief executive officer of SATRP, the South Africa Tyre Recycling Program. Dr Human will outline the work and remit of the not-for-profit organisation that was established to tackle the waste tyre problem in South Africa and support a sustainable waste tyre producer industry. Members of the body include Bridgestone, Continental, Dunlop and Goodyear, Michelin, Pirelli, Maxiprest and Trentyre.
Bridgestone recently launched its B250 tyre in the Middle East. According to publicity material released to coincide with the launch, the B250 promises “comfortable, low-noise journey, achieves better braking, regardless of the climate, and high level of running turning, which eventually guarantees travelling in comfort and safety with extended durability.”
Tiremart (Qingdao) set up in the year of 2000 in the CBD of Qingdao, China. Its specialises in exporting TBR, PCR, OTR, agricultural, motorcycle tyres, as well as tubes, flaps and rims to more than 50 countries in the world, with its main markets in the Middle East, India, South Asia, Africa and South America. It reports that its annual turnover reaches over $30 million.
The company sells factory brands in addition to its own brand, Maxim. Currently, the Maxim brand includes an OTR series, rims, and TBR 1000R20 with an Indian market pattern. Tiremart says that it plans to develop and promote the brand further in the near future. It also states that the OEM tyre business makes up 40 per cent in our sales volume.
As for its presence at CITExpo, the company states, “We would like to meet old and more new customers. We hope CITExpo this year will bring us good luck and will help us to make another big success in near future.”
Dunlop has secured the contract to supply tyres to the new Moto2 class, which gets underway in 2010. The company will supply 3.75 x 17-inch front and 6.00 x 17-inch rear tyres to the series that replaces the 250cc World Championships.
Speaking about the three-year deal, Dunlop Motorcycle sales and marketing director Europe, Middle East and Africa, Sharon Antonaros, said “We’re excited about building on the expertise gained over fifty years of continuous participation in Grand Prix racing to continue our development of racing tyres and then taking the technology to our road tyres.”
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