Construction work on Nexen’s newest passenger car and light commercial vehicle tyre factory in South Korea’s Gyeongnam Province has begun following its groundbreaking ceremony on June 24. The 500,000 square metre Changnyeong facility is being built with a 1.2 trillion won (£646 million) investment and Nexen anticipates its output will boost the company’s South Korea and China total to 60 million pieces per annum.
Titan Tire Corporation, a subsidiary of Titan International, Inc. has announced that it will implement a price increase on Titan branded farm and construction tyres and Titan manufactured Goodyear branded farm tyres effective 1 June 2010. The increase of up to approximately 6 per cent is designed to offset rising raw material, energy and transportation costs, according the company, which points out that “certain tyre prices may rise in excess of 6 per cent due to realignment and positioning of the product.”
Nexen Europe GmbH has announced that it will implement a price increase of 7 per cent across its ranges of car, 4×4 and van summer tyres. According to the company, the price increases has been prompted by the continuing series of prices increases the manufacturer has itself experienced in the commodity markets and also in logistics, which account for “a significant portion of Nexen Tire’s costs.” The situation has reportedly been exacerbated by the “ever weakening euro against the dollar” due to the fact that raw material and logistics deals are generally settled in dollars.
Nexen Tire Corp.’s first quarter earnings jumped 43 per cent from a year earlier on the back of increased prices, reports Tire Review. Net profit reached 25 billion won (US$22.4 million) in the January-March period, compared with a profit of 17 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a regulatory filing. Sales increased 8.6 per cent to 249 billion won over the cited period, while operating income fell 5.1 per cent to 32.4 billion won, it said.
As one of the largest distributors of passenger car tyres in the UK, wholesaler Stapleton’s prides itself on being able to offer tyres suitable for every retailer and every price bracket. This means stocking all major brands of 4×4 and SUV tyres. However this month the company also pointed out that the current “high fuel prices and doom and gloom of the economy will undoubtedly affect the already high running costs associated with 4×4 vehicles.” Some consumers may be monitoring their spending more closely and looking to make savings on their purchases, company representatives commented, explaining that the breadth of tyre range the company offers should ensure that Stapleton’s can support retailers in offering a wide range of 4×4 tyres, “at both the premium and quality levels.”
Stapleton’s Tyre Services, one of the largest distributors of passenger car tyres in the UK, reports offering one of the largest selections of private and exclusive brands out of any distributor, and furthermore says it has a product suitable for every retailer and in every price bracket. The company recently added two new exclusive brands – Matador, a mid-range brand produced by Continental, and Primewell, manufactured by GiTi. Stapleton’s is also backing both up with dealer support packages to reward valued loyalty.
Financial analysts expect tyre makers to increase prices between 5 and 8 per cent in January 2010, in part due to increased demand and supply shortages in some markets. The Morgan Stanley analysts once again singled out Hankook for particular praise and a “Buy” rating, saying: “After raising tyre prices by an average 7 per cent in the US in mid-October, Hankook is planning to raise average selling by…6 – 7 per cent in other major markets from early next year.”
Yokohama, Continental and Nexen have all announced plans to raise prices by 5-8 per cent from January next year, the analysts explained, adding: “Hankook is also scheduled to begin price negotiations with…OEMs this month and is targeting a 3 per cent average selling price increase. These price hikes should help it offset natural rubber price hike to a large extent.”
Financial analysts are recommending buying shares in Korean tyremakers (particularly Hankook and Nexen), following their initiation of stock coverage at the end of November. Their view is that internal structural and strategic fundamentals and external conditions are now favouring Korean tyre makers: “The top three global tyre makers continue to lose market share, having lost 10 percentage points in the past 10 years. On the other hand, we expect the global market share of Korea’s three tyre makers to rise to 7.2 per cent by 2010 from 5.5 per cent in 2008 (by revenue),” Deutsche Bank wrote in an investors report dated 21 November.
Nexen Tire America has put an 8 per cent price hike on all of its South Korea-produced tyres, according to Tire Review. Additionally, Nexen reportedly said it is shifting moulds for its SB702 line from its plant in China to its home plant in South Korea. The move, in reaction to the new 35 per cent added tariff on China-produced passenger tyres, will also necessitate a price increase for that line, Nexen said, but the exact amount had not yet been determined. Nexen reportedly said the 8 per cent increase is due to increased raw material costs.
On 15 October EU Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton and Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon initialled a free trade agreement (FTA), which the EU calls “the most important ever negotiated between the European Union and a third country.” Estimated to be worth a total of 19 billion euros in new trade for EU exporters, the agreement is designed to remove virtually all tariffs between the two economies.
However, it is a bilateral deal. And European carmakers, apparently fearful of being swamped by imports of more economically priced Korean cars in an already depressed market, were the first to call for a rethink through industry body ACEA. However this appears to have been too little too late and according to the commission, the initialling signals the end of negotiations. The current “stable legal text” will be formally presented to EU Member States in early 2010. So what does this mean for the European tyre (and associated product) markets?
Stapleton’s says that, despite the current economic climate, sales have been “performing well” over the past twelve months, reaching levels similar to those in 2008, and that it feels well-placed to take advantage of the current growth in the replacement tyre market. That the wholesaler has seen its private and exclusive brands – which include Primewell, Matador, Prestivo and Nexen – growing is perhaps unsurprising due to current market conditions, though Stapleton’s is keen to show that the programmes available alongside these labels are to some extent also responsible for their rise. “All of these ranges are offered with attractive dealer support packages to reward valued loyalty,” the company states. It also stocks all the major names.
2009 could be a breakthrough year for the Korean tyremakers. A collection of circumstances (some clearly the result of famed Far Eastern forward planning, and others distinctly more fortuitous), mean Kumho, Hankook and Nexen have found themselves poised to sell increasing numbers of replacement tyres in the UK and Europe. In addition, their successful efforts in the OE department – ironically helped along by the shaky macro-economic environment – mean this perfect storm of variables could leave the Korean manufacturers in an even stronger position when the dust settles. In the UK, a market where mid-range and economy tyres make up around 60 per cent of unit sales, official figures show that 4.7 million passenger car tyres of South Korean origin were imported last year. However, this cannot be the complete total because it only includes tyres imported from factories actually situated in South Korea. Owing to the fact that all three have significant manufacturing presences in China, and tyres often enter the market by “indirect routes,” it is likely the true total is a lot more.
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.
Nexen Tire is planning to invest 1 trillion won (£526 million; 572 million euros; $829 million) in a new factory in South Korea. The move is seen as a way of ramping up production in anticipation of a 6 per cent annual growth of global tyre demand. The new plant, which will be located in Gyeongnam Province, southeast of Seoul, would be the world's largest to produce tyres for passenger vehicles and light trucks, according to the company. The investment, which is scheduled to be made by 2017, will double the company’s existing annual output from its other China and South Korea plants to 60 million units and place it among the world's top 10 tyre makers, the company said in a statement.
Nexen shares rose 1.35 per cent to 6,020 won by 0248 GMT 28 September 2009 following the news.
The latest SMMT figures reveal there was 6 per cent rise in new car registrations in August 2009, with the monthly total growing to 67,006 units. The second successive month of growth in new car registrations is widely attributed to the success of the government’s scrappage initiative, with August’s figures building on on a 2.4 per cent gain in July. As you might expect in light of the scrappage scheme, private purchases of small cars grew particularly strongly with this type of sale accounting for 35,694 (53.3 per cent) of August’s sales, compared to 23,717 (37.5 per cent). However, the recent growth disguises the fact that sales are still 15 per cent off the 78,800 total monthly market average between 1999 and 2008.
Ford and Vauxhall continued to dominate sales in August, however it is the surprise success of the Korean car manufacturers that has the potential to re-shape the UK car parc. And as these car manufacturers are almost exclusively supplied by Korean tyre makers, there is also likely to be a positive effect on Korean tyre sales in the UK.
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