Vredestein’s states that its recently introduced Flotation Trac implement radial is well suited to work on arable land, grassland and for transportation. This all-round range has now expanded through the addition of a fifth size.
Magnum D’Or Resources reports that recycling operations at its Hudson tyre landfill site in the US state of Colorado officially began on November 12. Activities at the site include the sorting, preparation, and shredding of tyres into small pieces that will be accumulated as input into the company’s powder equipment, currently under contract to be built and installed through Magnum Engineering International (MEI) and its affiliates. In order to create a stream of revenue while awaiting delivery and installation of this machinery, the company has also recently began accepting a wide variety of scrap tyres.
Aluminium wheel maker Superior Industries International posted a narrower year-on-year loss in the third quarter due to cost cuts and increased production volumes. In the quarter ending September 30 the company reported a loss of US$12.7 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with a loss of $14.2 million, or 53 cents a share, a year earlier. Quarterly sales of $111.4 million represented a decline of 32 per cent on the same quarter of 2008.
Triangle chairman and CEO Ding Yu HuaTriangle Group chairman and CEO Ding Yu Hua brought his message of industry working for a greener earth to the SEMA Show, issuing a challenge to the tyre industry to help the world move from an “industrial civilisation” to an “ecological civilization.” To do that, Ding said, industry need to adopt principles to lessen their impact on the environment and do more to reduce, recycle and reuse materials used in production and the final products themselves.
Titan International of Quincy, Illinois posted a net loss of $11.1 million for the period, compared to a net gain of $10.3 million for the same period last year, reports Tire Review. Driving down the profits was a sharp sales drop: $141.5 million for the quarter against sales of $255.5 million for the same period in 2008. Year-to-date sales were $581.1 million, compared to $778.1 million in 2008, and net profits year-to-date were $1.8 million in 2009, compared to $31.7 million last year.
Evonik Industries launches has launched a new a new high performance carbon black for mechanical rubber goods. Purex HS 45-RP, as it is known, are said to satisfy special requirements concerning PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) content. Purex HS 45-RP is reportedly equivalent to Purex HS 45 with the abbreviation RP signifying “reduced PAH content.”
(Tire Review) Goodyear is closing its retread materials plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, the company announced yesterday. The plant will be closed by the end of 2009, according to the announcement, putting some 90 employees out of work. Some of the employees, the company said, will be offered jobs at other Goodyear plants. The Spartanburg facility produces tread stock and other retread materials for Goodyear retreaders and company-owned retreading facilities. That production, said Goodyear, will be absorbed into other Goodyear facilities across the country.
Back in September Columbus McKinnon Corporation, Sarasota, Florida installated of one its tyre recycling systems at B.A.S. Recycling, Inc. in Moreno Valley, California. This multi-stage system is capable of processing passenger car, truck tyres and super single truck tyres at production rates of 12,000 lbs. or more an hour.
The Size Reduction Stage consists of a CM Primary Shredder with screening capabilities to produce a 4 to 6-inch tyre chip feed stock that is fed to a CM Liberator for the next stage of the process. The Steel Liberation Stage (SLS) is designed to receive the 4 to 6 inch tire chips and utilizes a CM4R Liberator. Once the steel and rubber are liberated the system sorts the rubber and clean wire. Clean steel is sold to a steel mill and the rubber fractions are passed on for further processing through a screening system. Material ideal for mulch market is screened out, while the balance of the material is sent to a surge bin for processing in the cryogenic system.
(Tire Review) Hankook Tire posted a net profit for the third quarter of the year thanks to increased sales and decreased production costs. For the three months ending 30 September, Hankook posted a net profit of 182.95 billion won (£96 million), up from a net loss of 14.79 billion won a year earlier. Operating profit in the third quarter jumped to 155.94 billion won from 53.86 billion won, while sales rose 14 per cent to 762.09 billion won from 667.75 billion won. Operating profit margin also jumped to 20.5 per cent from 8.1 per cent a year earlier.
Goodyear has openly stated its desire to sell the company’s Luxembourg steel cord factory. As it disclosed to the “Luxemburger Wort” newspaper, talks with “four potential buyers” are underway, including with Belgium’s Bekaert, global top supplier of steel cord. The newspaper adds that the wire plant’s sale could be interpreted to be part of “Goodyear’s new management policy, one it wants in future to focus as far as possible concentrate upon the core business of tyre production, a change in strategy that Goodyear’s employees were recently informed about through an internal notice.” A company spokesperson told the newspaper that no contracts have been made and no offer as yet given. A buyer has also not yet been selected.
Polymer science expert Dr. Hwi Joong Kim’s work for Hankook Tire has attracted the attention and admiration of his former university – On October 2 the University of Akron M.D. and Ph.D. graduate received the 2009 Outstanding Alumnus award from the seat of learning.
A group of 10 workers at Bridgestone America’s Firestone agricultural tyre plant in Des Moines are a bit happier today. The group cashed in on a winning ticket in the Iowa Powerball lottery last week, taking in a total of US$1 million.
Commercial production of agricultural tyres at Alliance Tire’s factory in Tirunelveli, India is anticipated to begin before the end of 2009 following the recent commencement of start-up test production. The first products from the US$100 million plant are expected to be cross-ply off-road tyres, and the start of manufacture in India is anticipated to allow Alliance to increase radial production in Israel.
Car and two-wheel vehicle tyre prices in India have recently risen by some five to seven per cent due to unprecedented demand and reduced manufacturer inventories. According to India’s The Economic Times newspaper, tyre manufacturer’s inventories have declined from 20-25 days to just 5-7 days of late, disrupting vehicle production. The price increases mean that vehicle manufacturers also need to absorb the additional cost of around Rs 800 (£10.75) in each new car they sell.
Following the importation of 500 million naira (£2.1 million) worth of raw materials, Dunlop Nigeria looks set to re-open its Ikeja facility, which ceased production in April. A report in Nigeria’s Business Day newspaper indicates that the paperwork needed to clear the imported materials through customers is currently being dealt with by the country’s minister of state for commerce and industry, Humphrey Enemakwu Abah, who is apparently enthusiastic about the prospects of local manufacture recommencing.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
