Raw Materials
Styron has added an SSBR (Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber) rubber production line aimed at supplying tyre manufacturers to its factory in Schkopau, Germany. According to the company, Dr. Reiner Haseloff, minister-president of Saxony-Anhalt Germany and other dignitaries celebrate the opening. The new production line introduces an additional capacity of 50,000 metric tons at the production facility in Schkopau, Germany.
Spanish Environmental Group, HERA Holding and US sustainable materials company, Lehigh Technologies Inc have announced a partnership to bring in micronized rubber powder (MRP) for the tyre, consumer and industrial plastics and coatings industries in Europe. Lehigh says that MRPs can lower costs, increase the sustainability profile of end products and deliver performance without sacrificing the reliability and performance of traditional raw materials. Its customer base already includes five of the top ten largest tyre companies in the world, and the company estimates that more than 140 million tyres have been manufactured using its MRP. The new partnership aims to bring MRP into Europe with Hera Holding adapting its recycling plant in Navarra, Spain to allow for the production of MRP.
It makes no sense at all for a distributor to ship Chinese-made tyres to Europe and then re-export them around the world, and for this very reason Danish tyre and wheel supplier NDI (Nordisk Dæk Import A/S) recently decided to establish a local operation in China. NDI China was established in May 2012 with the signing of a cooperative agreement between NDI and the local government in Beiguan, Jiaozhou City, which is located near the major port of Qingdao.
A particular tyre on display at the 2012 Paris Motor Show represents Bridgestone’s vision of its tyre manufacturing for 2050 and beyond. The “100% sustainable materials” concept tyre on show at the Bridgestone stand in Paris exclusively utilises sustainable raw materials and was developed through a collaborative effort involving a number of resources, including academia.
Visitors to the MINExpo show in the US were given a chance to get up close with Michelin’s newest earthmover line, the XDR2. This range, which replaces the XDR, is intended for the market’s largest rigid dump trucks and is claimed to improve safety while enabling users to improve their productivity and optimise environmental performance.
At its media day in New York, German specialty chemicals company Lanxess announced a new mid-term goal for its leading earnings indicator – EBITDA pre exceptionals. The company projects that its EBITDA pre exceptionals will reach 1.8 billion euros in 2018, and says its previous 2015 EBITDA pre exceptionals goal of 1.4 billion euros will now be reached a year ahead of schedule. This key performance indicator has increased by an average of 20 per cent per annum since 2004, and for 2012 Lanxess reconfirms its guidance for EBITDA pre exceptionals to increase by five to ten per cent year-on-year.
Over the summer, Michelin reviewed its capital expenditure programme and 2015 financial outlook. The review followed on from the Group’s interim 2012 earnings performance, which Michelin describes as “robust” and says reflected its strategic vision, competitive strengths and management.
During its press conference at the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, Continental announced it is establishing a new truck and bus tyre retreading plant plus a facility to recycle rubber from used tyres at its Hannover headquarters. The company claims the facility will be the first of its kind worldwide and will make use of the synergies between the retreading and recycling production. An investment of “more than ten million euros” will go into the ContiLifeCycle plant project, and more than 100 new jobs will be created at Continental’s Hannover-Stöcken site.
Nokian Tyres claims membership in the exclusive ‘AA’ label club with the introduction of its new eLine summer tyre range. Sales of the eLine, a product suitable for smaller cars, will begin in spring 2013.
Tyrexpo India 2013 is aiming to act as a global trade interchange offering companies access to the booming Indian tyre market when it is held 9-11 July 2013.
According to Tyrexpo India organiser Paul Farrant of ECI International, next July’s exhibition will encourage both inward investment and export opportunities.
Rubber supplier Lanxess has announced plans to make its biggest investment in China to date with the construction of a 235 million euro, 160,000 tonne a year synthetic rubber plant. The factory, which will be situated in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, will specialise in the production of EPDM synthetic rubber, which is used largely in the automotive and construction industries.
While no-one in the tyre industry claims to have bypassed the combined effects of the credit crunch, euro-crisis and the consequent recession(s), it is fair to say that these economic phenomena have had particularly marked effects on the commercial vehicle tyre market. First of all, as a direct result of customer demand scaling back, truck makers cut down on vehicle production, with the tyre manufacturers responsible for supplying these OEMs forced to follow suit. As fleets responded to falling demand for their services and extended the life of their tyres as far as possible (as well laying up trailers and cannibalising tyres whenever they could), what began as a demand shock in the OE side of the business developed into a replacement slump as well.
The route between Pirelli’s UK facilities in Burton-on-Trent and Carlisle is well trodden by Derby-based haulier ATL, and the company has just put three of its newest vehicle acquisitions to work on the company’s most arduous contract. The Mercedes-Benz Axor 2543 tractor units are consistently fully laden and rack up 8,600km a week carrying raw materials and finished tyres between Pirelli’s locations.
On 23 August Polish chemical manufacturer Synthos SA informed the Warsaw Stock Exchange it has signed a supply deal with Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The agreement is valid until 31 December 2012 and covers the supply of solution styrene butadiene rubber and emulsion styrene butadiene rubber. The contract is valued at approximately PLN 3.74 billion (£709 million); the price to be paid is based upon a formula that takes into account the market price of raw materials.
Balancing weight specialist Hofmann Power Weight has unleashed its new website. The site, now up and running in both English and German language variants at www.hofmann-powerweight.de, is said to provide everything that the site visitor needs to know on the subject of wheel balancing and the Hofmann brand.
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