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Birla Tyres Resumes Production at Orissa Plant

Following a two week pause, production at Birla Tyres’ factory in India’s Orissa state resumed on March 2. The plant closure, deemed necessary due to a drop in demand, was the third to take place since December, and may not be the last.

“We resumed full production today (Monday) even though the market condition has not yet improved,” a plant official – who wished to remain anonymous – told the Indo-Asian News Service. “We will review the situation after 10 days. If the market conditions do not improve, we may consider another shutdown.”

2nd March 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bekaert Sales Top 4 billion Euros in 2008

Bekaert, supplier of steel cord to the tyre industry, has reported consolidated 2008 sales of 2.66 billion euros and combined sales of 4.01 billion euros, and increase of 22.5 per cent and 17.3 per cent respectively. Growth in consolidated sales stemmed 17.7 per cent from organic growth, largely driven by passed on raw material price increases, and 5.8 per cent from the company’s acquisitions in Vicson (Venezuela) and in Proalco (Colombia). Fluctuations in several exchange rates largely compensated each other with a net negative impact of 1.0 per cent. Even in the fourth quarter of 2008, the economic downturn notwithstanding and compared with a strong last quarter of 2007, Bekaert posted consolidated growth of 5 per cent.

23rd February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Buyers Express Early Interest in TyreGenics

The administrator for TyreGenics appears confident that a buyer for the cryogenic tyre recycling operation could be found within a matter of months. The administrator said it has been encouraged by initial interest from potential buyers, and believe a sale could take place before the six-month administration period is complete should the Baglan site be purchased as a going concern.

TyreGenics went into administration on January 15 following what administrator Begbies Traynor has described as a “sudden contraction” in the market for rubber sports surfaces, the primary end-market for the rubber crumb processed at the facility.

23rd February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Kremenchug Wheel Plant Idles Production

Ukrainian cold-formed steel wheel maker JSC Kremenchug Wheel Plant has opted to suspended production between 12 February and 16 March. According to a report published at Russian news site, ityre.com, the company cited sharp declines in demand as the reason. Kremenchug Wheel Plant reportedly also intends to lay off 334 people. The latest move follows an earlier decision to reduce its working week from five to three days.

20th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin German Plant Starts Short Time Work

Michelin has reportedly reduced working hours at its Homburg, Germany tyre production plant. The move affects 900 of the 1200 workers at the factory that specialises in manufacturing truck tyres. The Saarbruecker Zeitung newspaper quoted a company spokesperson as saying the measure is planned to take effect from 1 March for six months.

19th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Stock Up After Credit Suisse Upgrading

Bridgestone’s stock jumped 3.9 per cent to 1,332 yen (10.17 pounds sterling – 1 GBP: 131 JPY), when Credit Suisse reported that its new stock rating was “outperform”, from a previous ranking of “neutral.” The bank also raised its target price to 1,700 from 1,400, reasoning that the manufacturer has shown resistance to generally negative market trends.

The upgrading could be taken positively in the wider tyre business too. In his report, Credit Suisse analyst Toru Iwai wrote that, “We believe the tyre subsector is the only auto parts subsector capable of generating profits in FY09. We believe top-line growth, a major factor in assessing the company, will likely recover faster than auto production.”

17th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Net Income Falls 53.8%

Michelin has reported that group sales fell 2.9 per cent in 2008, and 16 per cent in the final quarter. Net income fell 53.8 per cent, to 357 million euros in 2008 compared with 774 million euros in 2007. The financial come against a backdrop of spiralling tyre unit sales volumes (down 2.9 per cent for the year, falling a huge 16 per cent in the fourth quarter). However, when calculated at constant exchange rates, net sales reportedly grew 1.1 per cent in 2008. Either way, operating margin took a real beating falling 4.2 percentage points to 5.6 per cent in 2008.

In response to the figures, Forbes reported “investors sent shares of Michelin up 0.7 per cent, or 20 euro cents to 31.16 euros. Like Pirelli just a few days earlier, Michelin announced that it will work on enhancing plant flexibility, with an emphasis on driving further expansion in the new, high growth potential markets. In order to face the challenges that the “difficult” market is presenting, the company will cut capital expenditure to around 700 million euros.

13th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

TyrFil Maker Adds Staff, Facility

Despite the current economic situation, Pathway Polymers, marketers of TyrFil Recycling Systems, claims that it has expanded its sales force and opened a new facility.The new 6,000 sq ft development, processor training and machine demo area is at Pathway Polymer’s production facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The development, processor training, and machine demo area is fully equipped with TrioFil, AutoFil, Graco, Electric TyrFil, and LiteFil tire fill systems for use by Pathway’s development staff and customer processors.

The three new territory managers include Kevin Carr, based in Henderson, Nevada, who covers the western US; Ben Parish, from Chicago, who covers the Midwest; and Pat McKinney in San Antonio, who is responsible for the southwest. (Tire Review/Akron)

12th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Titan Tire Promotes Two

Titan Tire Corporation has announced two senior staff promotions. Jeff Kramer, previously operations manager for the company’s Des Moines, Iowa facility, has taken on the role of vice president of manufacturing engineering, and Dave Fines is taking Kramer’s place in Des Moines.

Jeff Kramer has been with Titan for 13 years and has held positions in tyre engineering, curing area management and production management. As vice president of manufacturing engineering, Kramer will oversee manufacturing engineering projects at all Titan Tire locations.

9th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Confirms Carlisle Cutbacks

In a statement released February 4, Pirelli has confirmed plans to reduce the working week of employees at its Carlisle plant until the end of April. “The full impact of the global economic slowdown is being felt by many businesses in and connected to the car industry who have introduced long term lay offs and reduced working weeks,” the company said. Local media had previously reported that the 40-hour working week would be reduced to 32 hours per week.

5th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Turkey’s Brisa to Start Production Suspension

Brisa has announced to the stock exchange that it will suspend production in Turkey for a week starting tomorrow (5 February, 2009) following a slowdown in domestic and foreign demand. The company is a joint venture between Sabanci Holding and Bridgestone.

4th February 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin to Pause Remix Production at Stoke Plant

Michelin’s Stoke on Trent facility is to halt production for 15 days between February and April, resulting in employees working nine less shifts within this time period. Employees will be required to work five of these shifts at a later date, and will receive 50 per cent pay for the remaining four cancelled shifts. The dates for the shutdown of the company’s Remix truck tyre lines are reported to be February 21 to March 2 and between April 9 and 15.

30th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Opens New Thailand Test Track

January 22 marked the official opening of Bridgestone’s all-new proving ground in Thailand. It is less than two years since Thai Bridgestone Co. Ltd received official from the Thailand Board of Investment to go ahead with construction at the site in Ayutthaya, some 70 kilometres north of Bangkok, and in that time a range of facilities have been built on the 53 hectare site. Amenities include a 3.3 kilometre oval track and a 5-hectare site for testing control, balancing and handling. A wet performance section and a surface course featuring road conditions encountered in various locations around the world has also been constructed to facilitate the development and testing of tyres for other markets.

26th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

December Tyre Production More than 20% Down in China

According to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, tyre production nationwide fell by 21.7 per cent year on year in December to 36.67 million units. This figure, disseminated by Dow Jones Newswire, present a strong contrast to the 14 per cent growth recorded in December 2007. Synthetic rubber production totalled 236,000 tons in December, up 26.7 per cent year on year.

22nd January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian Heavy Tyres Negotiating Production Cutbacks

Nokian Heavy Tyres Ltd reports that on January 20 it commenced new statutory negotiations in order to adjust heavy tyre manufacturing and inventories in line with decreasing demand for the products. The negotiations include a plan to change the work pattern used in heavy tyre production and to reorganise operations. Such plans and production adjustments will lead to 50 staff being made permanently redundant, and another 230 being laid off until further notice, or for a certain period. A proportion of these lay-offs, permanent or otherwise, could be covered by pension arrangements or other voluntary solutions, Nokian adds.

20th January 2009/by Tyrepress Editors