Raw Materials
Organisers have announced that the 2013 International Rubber Research & Development Board (IRRDB) conference will ask “Are we ready for Green Technologies?” The event is being held in London and is scheduled to run 24 – 26 June 2013. The conference has been organised jointly by the IRRDB, Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB) and its UK–based research facility the Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC).
With Pirelli Group spending around 4 billion euro acquiring goods and services in 2012, you can understand why the company wants to honour its best suppliers. That’s why Pirelli today gave out its Supplier Award 2013, in recognition of the suppliers who have “contributed in a significant way to Pirelli’s Premium strategy throughout the world.”
Speaking as principal guest at the opening of Tyrexpo Asia 2013, the secretary-general of the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) has predicted strong global demand for tyres through the coming decade. Dr Stephen Evans said that large scale Chinese and Indian car registration growth is projected to help increase the world’s vehicle pool by more than 50 per cent in the next decade. The ninth staging of the show opened in Singapore on 19 March, with more than 250 exhibitors in tyre, rubber, equipment, machinery and accessory suppliers participating.
At the end of February, commercial production of Ekoprena began in Malaysia. Currently one company, Felda Rubber Industries, is the sole manufacturer of this epoxidised natural rubber, and senior marketing manager Sarimah Nasir told Tyres & Accessories that Felda is preparing to produce between 200 and 300 tonnes of Ekoprena and Pureprena deproteinised natural rubber per month this year.
The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association has welcomed the European Commission’s publication of the Product Safety and Market Surveillance Package, its proposed new rules to improve the safety of consumer products circulating in the EU and to step-up market surveillance concerning all non-food products, including those imported from outside the region.
Continental’s Specialty Tires business unit has added an eco-friendly product, LifeCycle, to its portfolio. The solid rubber tyre is retreaded upon selected used casings, the utilisation of which is said to lead to considerable savings in energy raw materials used in the production process, and this lowers product price. “With customers’ help this large-scale recycling initiative will help to bring down the number of scrap tyres needing disposal as well as the emission of climate-changing CO2,” shared Continental in a written statement. “Continental LifeCycle protects nature and offers cost savings.”
When Michelin reported full-year 2012 free cash flow of 1.075 billion euros, financial analysts responded by describing the results as “a strong beat” compared with consensus expectations. However, questions about profitability (and the company’s continued momentum in this respect) remain a subject of discussion amongst the market watchers.
At present, 75 per cent of the natural rubber imported into Europe is used in the tyre sector and 93 per cent of this originates from South East Asia. The industry is thus dependent on one particular region for its most significant raw material.
Michelin’s 2012 financial results are now public, and in a pithy sentence the tyre maker describes its performance last year as “strong 2012 earnings in lacklustre markets.” During the year the company earned net sales of 21.474 billion euros, up three per cent on 2011, although Michelin says weak demand, particularly in Europe, dragged sales volumes down 6.4 per cent year-on-year. Western Europe and North America each accounted for 34 per cent of total net sales, with North America gaining three percentage points at Western Europe’s expense, while the rest of the world’s share of net sales remained unchanged from 2011 at 32 per cent.
At the 13th annual Tire Technology Expo awards, held last night in Cologne, Apollo Tyres was honoured as Tire Manufacturer of the Year. Shortlisted alongside Bridgestone, Continental and Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Apollo was selected for the award in recognition of the brand’s continued expansion in the European market, growth underpinned by the launch of key products such as its first high performance summer tyre for Europe, the Aspire 4G, and the inauguration of a new technical centre in Enschede, The Netherlands, a site that has taken on global responsibility for passenger car tyre research and development. Announcing Apollo’s selection as Tire Manufacturer of the year, Tire Technology International noted the company’s “impressive” financial growth; in 2011-12, Apollo’s revenue exceeded US$2.5 billion for the first time.
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The cost of moving tyres and wheels between Asia and major European markets such as the UK should stabilise in 2013 after the wild fluctuations of 2012, according to the CEO of Suffolk based freight forwarding company Maritime Cargo Services, Rob Shelley. As shippers and shipping lines battled hard on this trade route in particular the cost of moving containers varied greatly over the course of the year, “making costing and budgeting in the tyre industry somewhat challenging,” Shelley says. As fewer goods were imported under economic austerity measures towards the end of 2012, shipping lines reduced capacity accordingly. But with global trade expected to creep upwards again in 2013, Shelley expects shipping rates to rise moderately as shippers control their expansion.
Thailand, currently the world’s largest rubber producer with an output of 3 million tonnes/year, is seeking to attract investment from international tyre producers in an effort to promote its domestic market and simultaneously contain its rubber export volume. Deputy Agriculture Minister Yutthapong Charasathian invited tyre makers to come and construction manufacturing plants in the South East Asian country, saying the Thai government has already sounded out “leading tyre manufacturers in the US, China and Japan” to expand tyre manufacturing operations in the country.
In a year end review, Continental Tyres’ Arthur Gregg used the word “challenging” to describe the UK and Ireland commercial vehicle tyre market. Yet at the same time he painted a positive picture of fleet operators adjusting to tough economic times and of a company that continues to develop and introduce new products in line with the many changes occurring in the market.
Tyre Wholesalers Group chairman Ashley Croft has called upon the tyre industry to campaign for greater attention to be paid to poorly maintained tyres after Department for Transport figures showed an increase in the number of Killed and Seriously Injured in 2011 where “illegal, defective or under-inflated tyres” were a contributory factor. The chairman also addressed the issue du jour, EU labelling legislation, and while he expressed support for the tyre label and supported the wish to scrutinise the grades on labels, he also suggested that it was not “the number one priority of the tyre industry”.
Dr Hongwei Li, general manager and chief engineer of the Tire Technology Alliance, has a history of working with premium brand tyres, and the labels displayed on her relatively young company's tyres at Reifen China seem to suggest an advanced level of tyre technology. Dr Li was promoting two relatively new brands belonging to Qingdao-based TTA; Primmax and Arcron at the show, alongside two "world premieres" for the company.
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