To accommodate its growing presence in the North and Central American markets, BKT Tires Inc. recently opened a new premises dedicated to the OTR sector and has extended its team with two key appointments. The Balkrishna Industries company has also opened two new warehouses.
It looks like it will be a Happy New Year for Grantham-based firm Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres, as the company has announced it will begin distributing a new budget line of off-the-road tyres as soon as the end-of-year festivities are behind us. The range, named MTP, is produced by Magna Tyres Group and will act as Vacu-Lug’s official budget brand. Vacu-Lug says the brand’s inclusion in its product portfolio affirms the message that it is possible to offer a quality product to customers on a lower budget.
The largest loader tyre produced in India to-date, the Apollo AWL 822, has been launched at the International Mining and Machinery Exhibition (IMME) 2014 show in Kolkata. The AWL 822 is a size 45/65-45 L5 tyre that contains 1,300 kilogrammes of rubber, 700 kilogrammes of carbon black and silica, 200 kilogrammes of nylon fabric and 300 kilogrammes of other rubber chemicals. The tyre is produced at Apollo Tyres’ Limda plant, in India’s Gujarat state.
Goodyear’s latest OTR tyre, the RT-5D, has celebrated its original equipment debut with Volvo. The Swedish firm is fitting its L350F wheel loader with the level 250 (L5) severe service radial in size 875/65 R33. The RT-5D is also currently available in a 29.5R25 size, with further sizes to follow.
Bridgestone Americas has opened its giant off-road radial tyre facility in Aiken County, South Carolina. Kazuhisa Nishigai, COO and board Member of Bridgestone Corporation, and Gary Garfield, president and CEO of Bridgestone Americas, were joined at a grand opening ceremony for the 140,000 square metre (1.5 million square feet) plant by state and local dignitaries.
Pirelli has announced its title sponsorship of the Offroad British Masters Series in 2015. Run by Offroad Motorsport UK, the Pirelli British Masters Series will be run over six rounds at some of the UK’s top motocross circuits, including Foxhills and HawkstonePark. The manufacturer said it would enhance the availability of rider tuition and prizes for competitors as part of the deal.
Vacu-Lug tyres has been supplying UK recycling operator Viridor for 30 years. According to the retreader and tyre management specialists, Vacu-Lug has been providing tyre supply/support as part of Viridor’s long-term contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority.
JCB has announced plans to cut up to 150 jobs. The job losses have been blamed on a slowdown in orders following unrest in Russia, Ukraine and Syria. According to various local news sources, most of the jobs will be lost at the firm’s Staffordshire factories in Rocester and Cheadle.
JCB will now embark on a 45-day consultation with staff at the beginning of November. Any following job cuts are set to take place in the middle of December. The firm has not ruled out making compulsory redundancies.
Marangoni Group has acquired Recamax Reifen, a German distributor of earthmover retreads. The purchase follows the acquisition of Wenzel Industrie in 2009.
According to the company, the partnership between Recamax and Marangoni has been going for more than 25 years. It was reinforced with the objective of consolidating and strengthening Marangoni Group’s presence in Germany, one of the most important markets in Europe.
Titan Distribution UK Limited, a subsidiary of Titan International, Inc., has appointed Stoke-based earthmover tyre specialist, T&C Site Services as a new dealer for the UK. The partnership is intended to offer far greater access to Titan industrial, construction and mining tyres to customers throughout the region.
The Steinexpo 2014 trade show for the construction materials industry is currently being held in Germany, and during the exhibition Mitas is presenting a new addition to its ERL-50 earthmover tyre range, the 23.5R25 ERL-50. This latest fitment for loader, dozer and grader applications will be available in global markets in October 2014. With the introduction of the size 23.5R25 tyre, the ERL-50 line-up grows to 12 various fitments that offer tread depths of between 28mm and 90mm.
Monster Jam is on its way to Europe, but stay calm – we’re not dealing with terrifying fruit preserves here. The US-bred extreme truck event, sponsored by off-road tyre manufacturer BKT, arrives in our region this month for shows in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.
ATS Euromaster has entered into a strategic partnership with earthmover tyre specialist Kal Tire Mining Tire Group. The agreement will see ATS Euromaster working with Kal Tire to provide services to customers in the ports, mining and industrial sectors, with a heavy-duty tyre requirement, whilst Kal Tire will direct all car and van tyre enquiries to ATS Euromaster.
Luxembourg-based Maxam Tire has announced the appointment of Recambios Frain S.L. as a distributor for Maxam OTR tyres in Spain. The deal was finalised at the recent Reifen exhibition in Essen and the first tyres have been shipped to Recambios Frain’s warehouse at Lugo, in northwest Spain.
In its report, China Tire Retreading Industry – Overview and Forecast to 2017, Shanghai-based China Research and Intelligence states that China’s retreading market increased by more than ten per cent year-on-year to reach a volume of 18 million tyres in 2012. This volume represented a market scale in excess of RMB 6 billion (£575 million, $972 million). Most retreading is carried out by smaller operations, added China Research and Intelligence; of the 500 or so retreaders in China, in 2012 only 20 had an annual production of more than 100,000 units.
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