Continental has acquired EMT s.r.o., a mould manufacturing specialist based in Puchov, Slovakia. The tyre maker and automotive technology company obtained all shares in its long-standing supplier on 2 April 2024 after entering into an agreement with EMT’s shareholders, including majority shareholder Dynamic Design Europe. Beyond confirming the retention of all 107 EMT employees, Continental has not disclosed details of the agreement.
Turkish tyre curing press and mould specialist Uzer Makina has opened a new sales office in the USA. The Florida-based operation, Uzer Americas Trading Inc., will serve as the firm’s sales and project management centre for the entire American continent. Uzer Makina states that it will continue investing in this region in order to establish fast contact with its customers in America and to provide fast solutions to their needs.
Prosecutors raided the offices of Hankook Tire & Technology Co. on 24 November as part of an investigation into alleged “unfair intra-affiliate trading”. According to the South Korean Yonhap news agency, investigators from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office seized documents from “the headquarters and offices of its affiliates in connection with suspicions of unfair business practices among the group’s affiliates”. Yonhap also reported that prosecutors specifically searched the office of Cho Hyun-bum, the chairman of Hankook Tire.
Yokohama Mold Co., Ltd. (YMC), the tyre mould production subsidiary of Yokohama Rubber, is expanding production capacity at its Yokohama Mold (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (YMTC) facility in order to strengthen the company’s supply chain in the ASEAN region. Construction of new facilities at the Thailand site began in January and are scheduled to be completed at the end of this year.
As has been the case for many companies in the machinery manufacturing sector, business for Cima Impianti has changed dramatically over the past decade. The Italian maker of tyre production machinery states that it has required a “great capacity to evolve and adapt to the new market situation” in order to gain the flexibility it needs in both people skills and machining process equipment.
Chem-Trend, the release agents, purging compounds and other ancillary moulding products supplier, and its parent company Freudenberg Chemical Specialities (FCS) have broked ground on the construction and expansion of its facilities in the Maisach Gernlinden area outside Munich, Germany. Chem-Trend’s European headquarters, already located at the site, will expand as part of the project to create an approximately $45 million complex that will also encompass facilities and services for two additional FCS business units, Klüber Lubrication Munich and OKS Specialty Lubricants. FCS is a member of the Freudenberg Group, a technology company active throughout the world.
Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has filed a patent infringement and unfair trade practices suit against US based retreader and price-driven online tyre retailer TreadWright, claiming the company copied the tread design on its Dueler A/T Revo tyre, which is protected by a 2003 patent. According to Bridgestone, TreadWright initially used the design on its Sentinel tyre. After it issued a cease-and-desist letter to the company in 2013, TreadWright stopped selling that tyre and released a new tyre, called the Watchman, which, according to Bridgestone, had the same tread design.
Spanish tyre brand Membat will make its debut appearance in South Africa at the Tyrexpo Africa exhibition, which is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg between 4 and 6 March. Membat is a budget consumer tyre brand that was launched in 2012; Membat shares that since that time the brand has quickly established itself in numerous European, American and Asian markets.
Chinese mould manufacturer Greatoo Incorporated is reportedly planning to establish intelligent factories for the production of large OTR tyre and speciality as well as other apparently high-end moulds as part of a so-called “structural adjustment strategy”. The move is being seen as a way of strengthening the core value of its company by focusing on the highest value sectors.
Laser mould cleaning and tyre marking firm 4JET Technologies GmbH (based in Alsdorf, Germany) has announced plans for a “tyre technology roadshow” from now until the end of October.
The tour will include live demonstrations of laser machines for cleaning vulcanizing moulds and for tyre marking will be performed at production facilities of the leading European tyre producers.
Since the company’s founding in 1953, Cima Impianti has specialised in the manufacture of retreading machinery and facilities. A particular focus has been vulcanisation presses and moulds for mould cure retreading; a specific product portfolio that Cima Impianti, with a touch of pride, refers to as the “most extensive in the industry.” Building upon this position, which the company has earned within the industry over a number of years, the Pistoia (near Florence, in Italy’s Tuscany region) based firm has pursued a new path over the past five years and invested heavily in developing machinery for OTR tyre retreading. Along with vulcanisation presses for the retreading of up to 63-inch tyres, Cima Impianti currently also supplies five-axis CNC buffing machines for giant tyres and extruders for OTR tyre retreading.
It’s been almost two years since Lanxess’ Jhagadia production site in India began supplying antioxidants to tyre industry customers, and now the range of products manufactured there has been expanded. Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie has established a facility in Jhagadia for the production of the pre-dispersed rubber additive Rhenogran and the environmentally-friendly release agent Rhenodiv in Jhagadia. The plant was formerly located in Madurai, in India’s Tamil Nadu state, and is one of three new units being set up in Jhagadia. In total, Lanxess has invested more than 70 million euros there and created 300 new jobs. Jhagadia is Lanxess’ second largest production site in India after its site in Nagda in Madhya Pradesh state, and covers an area of 18-hectares.
Marangoni Retreading Systems has introduced a “new generation” Ringtread design, available for retreading city bus and intercity coach tyres. The BUS100 is designed to improve overall efficiency by increasing mileage and reducing running costs, according to the manufacturer. The pattern features a wide footprint, increased by more than 5 per cent, and solid and sturdy shoulders to improve damage resistance when hitting kerbstones.
Developed to provide a premium quality performance tyre at an affordable price, Atturo is a relatively recent addition to the world's ultra high performance tyre brands. "It was always our intention to pioneer and successfully market a true performance tyre that was within reach of every consumer," said company representative, Michael Mathis. "The performance segment has seen numerous and variable tyre sizes, especially staggered fitments, produced by the leading quality tyre manufacturers, or witnessed somewhat less efficient products from unfamiliar suppliers. Atturo sits in the middle of the price range without sacrificing the quality demanded by the performance tyre buyer. Manufactured in Taiwan, to the highest international standards, we are totally focused on providing the tyre sizes demanded of a niche market for speciality and staggered fitments.
Based just about an hour outside China’s rubber capital city (Qingdao in Shandong province), Himile Mechanical Science and Technology Co., Ltdis purportedly the largest mould manufacturer in the People’s Republic.
Growing into the position of leadership in one of the largest tyre markets is a process that has been completed within the space of one and half decades. Founded in 1995, Himile initially went into business with just two production lines – one for tyre mould making and one for manufacturing tyre manufacturing equipment. Since then the scale of the business has multiplied many times over.
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