Product News Archives - Page 27 of 260 - Tyrepress

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Amtel-Kirov Plant Enters Bankruptcy Protection

Following the official bankruptcy of Amtel-Vredestein NV in April, and the subsequent sale of Vredestein Banden and its subsidiaries to Apollo Tyres, the Russian holding company’s Kirov manufacturing operation entered voluntary bankruptcy on 22 June. OJSC Amtel-Vredestein entered bankruptcy on 3 June 2009 with subsidiary OJSC Tyre Complex AmtelChernozemje doing the same on 20 May 2009. According a report in the local Kommersant newspaper, the decision was reportedly made after accounts payable mounted up to 982 million rubles (£20 million) in the first quarter 2009 compared with a net asset value of about 840 million rubles (£16.337 million).

Kommersant estimates that the total debt load of Amtel-Vredestein’s Russian units adds up to more than US$450 million. Negotiations with creditors, the largest of which is said to be Sberbank, which is apparently owed US$100 million, are currently underway. However, the newspapers are also speculating about some more ‘creative’ kinds of debt restructuring. Arguably, the most interesting of these sees Kommersant name Pirelli as a foreign investor willing to expand its interests in Russia beyond the tyre production joint venture it signed with Russian Technologies in November 2008. Apparently certain government officials discussed the idea with the leadership of Amtel-Vredestein in late March. However, the newspaper also quotes Sibur Russian-Tyres director, Igor Karavaev as saying he considers it unrealistic that any investors will be able to purchase Amtel’s assets, especially foreign players.

30th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Trelleborg Share and Vote Amounts Change

The rights issue recently conducted by Trelleborg has resulted in the following increase of the number of shares and votes in the company during June 2009.

Prior to the rights issue, there were in total 90,357,261 shares in Trelleborg, of which 9,500,000 shares of series A and 80,857,261 shares of series B, corresponding to 175,857,261 votes in total. The number of shares has through the rights issue increased by 180,714,522, of which 19,000,000 shares of series A and 161,714,522 shares of series B. The number of votes increased by 351,714,522. As of June 30, 2009, there are in total 271,071,783 shares in the company, of which 28,500,000 shares of series A and 242,571,783 shares of series B, corresponding to a total number of 527,571,783 votes.

30th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

ArvinMeritor Divests Additional Business

Systems and components supplier ArvinMeritor reached an agreement on June 29 to divest another of its light vehicle chassis businesses, bringing the total number of units divested this year to three. The company reached a definitive agreement to sell its Gabriel Ride Control Products North America business to private equity firm OpenGate Capital.

The company notes that the sale of the US portion of Gabriel Ride Control Products North America has been completed. The closing of the transaction for the subsidiary in Mexico will be completed once the license agreements and pending permits have been finalised, which the company expects will occur within two months.

30th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bomb Scare at Goodyear’s Fulda Factory

Goodyear reports that a factory belonging to its German subsidiary was subject to a bomb scare on June 29. The company’s Fulda facility in central Germany received an anonymous threat at 11.00am, and police were notified. Goodyear states that at this stage the caller’s genuineness cannot be ascertained, however both the police and Goodyear Dunlop are taking appropriate measures and are boosting security at the site. As part of a range of preventative measures to ensure the safety of employees and neighbouring residents, the Fulda plant was evacuated.

Police action continued during the afternoon of June 29. A police search of the works as of 3.00pm local time had provided no further information regarding the incident.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Sri Lankan Government Reveals Local Tyre Production Support Programme

The Sri Lankan government is reportedly discussing a programme of measures designed to support domestic tyre production. According to the local ITN news network, minister Kumara Welgama made the announcement during a debate on “supplementary estimates for the Industrial development ministry.” The support package is currently estimated to be in the region of 200 million rupees (£2.5 million) and is intended to fund “the provision of technology to enhance production capacity of industrial establishments and the receipt of new technologies.” Mould making, training and international promotion were also mentioned in the announcement.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Social Measures for Conti Clairoix Employees Outlined in Agreement

On Friday June 25 the four parties involved in talks over Continental’s Clairoix tyre factory in France met in Paris to sign an agreement on the course of future negotiations. Representatives from the French Government, Conti’s French and German management and employee representatives signed their names on a document based upon the preliminary agreement concluded on June 6. The signing of this agreement is, says Continental, an “important step for all the employees as this document includes the main negotiated social measures of the jobs safeguard plan” as well as the details of their implementation.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Schaeffler Seeks Chinese Investors

Chinese state and private firms may take on a partial shareholding in debt laden Schaeffler AG. According to an article printed by German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche on June 27, the company has engaged in talks with several parties, including the Beijing city administration, regarding a share sale in order to bolster its short-term finances. Such a deal would give the Chinese access to the company’s know-how, technology and distribution channels, the magazine reported.

“We have always said that we would speak to potential investors,” a Schaeffler spokesman was quoted as saying.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Vellco Signs New National Tyres & Autocare Collection Contract

Vellco Ltd has announced that it has agreed a new 18 month total waste management contract with National Tyres & Autocare to collect, recycle and/or reprocess “all automotive waste arisings including scrap tyres, hazardous waste, catalytic convertors, metal waste, and general dry trade waste from all National’s 206 retail centres throughout the UK.” Vellco Limited has been working in partnership with NTA for over 12 years.

In addition to the services referred to above, NTA is now segregating all paper and cardboard from their dry trade waste, as well as recycling all of their other waste streams. NTA is expecting to achieve carbon-neutrality by the end of the year.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Breaking Down NHTSA’s Tyre Fuel Efficiency Scheme

Last week NHTSA issued its 148-page long initial proposal for a national tyre fuel efficiency testing rating and education program – nearly two full years after it was mandated in the 2007 Energy Act. To be sure, developing even the first pass version was no easy task. While the core requirement was to create a simple, straightforward means to help consumers find the most fuel-efficient tyres, getting there will still take some doing…and leave a few people disappointed.

There are some interesting points in NHTSA’s proposal. For instance, it suggests that with the advent of this proposal NHTSA recommends doing away with the current UTQG system, saying that the new rating program would be a more effective alternative.

NHTSA also estimates that it would take between two and nine years to test every single passenger tyre SKU, so it will allow tyre makers to basically test one tyre within a family (make/model/size range) and use those ratings across the rest of that model. Even then, NHTSA experts only 25 per cent of replacement tyre to be labelled at the time the program would formally launch. (Tire Review/Akron)

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to Sell Simex Industrial and Earthmover Tyres

Continental Tyre Group is adding the Simex brand to its offering in the UK and Ireland. In the past, Simex tyres were exclusively marketed through the various national importers in Europe. According to the company, Simex’s premium product is backed by a strong presence in the original equipment sector.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

UK EV Recharging Network Set To Surge

The Government’s £25 million Ultra Low Carbon Vehicle Demonstrator scheme, which aims to accelerate a shift towards low-emissions motoring, will pave the way for the creation of the world’s biggest network of electric vehicle (EV) recharging stations. The organisations involved in implementing the eight Demonstrator programmes across the UK have together committed to installing more than 500 roadside, car park, business and home charging stations by June 2010. The majority will be produced and installed by Brighton-based Elektromotive, in what will become the world’s biggest-ever co-ordinated EV infrastructure installation project.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Workers Strike Against Noyelles-les-Seclin Plant Closure

Michelin’s Noyelles-les-Seclin factory in northern France was reportedly brought to a standstill on June 29 by striking workers protesting against plans to close the site next year. This news was published by the AFP press service based upon information provided by Force Ouvrière union delegate Gilles Cocquerez; according to Cocquerez, ninety per cent of staff at the plant near Lille went out on strike, and between 150 and 200 people staged a march through the town centre. A spokeswoman for Michelin confirmed that the factory’s production had indeed come to a halt.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Two-Year Delay for Opening of Lanxess Butyl Rubber Plant

Production at Lanxess AG’s new butyl rubber facility in Singapore was initially scheduled to commence in 2012, however the company has announced that – due to the continuing global economic crisis – the 100,000 tpa plant will now go on stream in 2014. Lanxess states it will use this extra time to finish developing an “innovative technology for butyl rubber production” that will then be used at the new facility.

“We expect the new capacity to be needed in 2014 at the earliest,“ said Lanxess Board of Management chairman Axel C. Heitmann.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Machinery Focusing on Output Flexibility

Many tyre manufacturers are currently grappling with reduced demand. For this reason, reports Karsten Jung, CM Conti Machinery’s head of Sales and Service, at present an increased focus is being placed upon tyre building equipment that can deliver smaller load sizes. “Many customer budgets are frozen so smaller load sizes are attractive,” Jung comments. “Our answer to the current situation is flexibility and lower output.” For passenger car tyre segment customers, Conti Machinery – a proponent of two-stage technology – offers output flexibility through a combination of its KM F and PU 15 SB tyre building machines.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Hot Summer “Is Bad News For Cars”

Motorists are being urged to prepare their cars for what is predicted to be a hotter-than-average summer in 2009. Autoglym warns that extended periods of intense heat and high levels of the sun’s harmful UV light can do more damage than freezing winter conditions – fading paint, causing rubber and plastics to degrade, and baking corrosive contaminants on to paintwork.

In hot conditions, body-panel temperatures can exceed 50 degrees Celsius, baking on contaminants such as bird droppings and tree sap that can eat into unprotected paintwork. Tyres, plastics and rubber seals around windows and doors are also at risk, and can quickly deteriorate if protective dressings are not applied.

29th June 2009/by Tyrepress Editors