Raw Materials
A bit of healthy competition enhances performance, and with this in mind Bridgestone held its 2012 Equipment Maintenance Skills Competition on 12 July. A total of 57 Bridgestone employees from the company’s Japanese and overseas operations took part in the challenge, which was held at Bridgestone’s Global Manufacturing Education Center (G-MEC) building in Tokyo.
In its July 2012 report into India’s tyre industry, ICRA Research Services states that “changing revenue mix and softer rubber price” will “pay dividends.” The investment and credit rating agency observes that rubber prices have declined from their peak of around Rs 240 (£2.79) per kilogram at the start of the 2011-12 financial year (April 2011), easing to approximately Rs 195 per kilogram in November and then stabilising at between Rs 185 and Rs 200 per kilogram.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded Cooper Tire & Rubber and its consortium partners a US$6.9 million grant for research into the guayule plant. The grant covers a four year period and Cooper says research its research focus is on developing enhanced manufacturing processes, testing and utilising guayule natural rubber for use in tyres, and evaluating the remaining guayule plant biomass as a source of bio-fuel for the transportation industry.
Half a year after its public unveiling at Intermat 2012, Michelin’s all-new XADN+ articulated dump truck tyre has been launched. The tyre is initially available in the popular size 29.5R25 and is suitable for groundwork, infrastructure construction, quarry and mine applications. The XADN+ range will replace the current XADN line-up, which was launched in 1996.
Materials company Styron reports that its R&D/TS&D Rubber Team has developed functionalised Solution Styrene Butadiene Rubber in response to the European tyre label, and the team is “continuously working” to introduce new grades that will deliver even better performance. “Let's give you one example which speaks by itself to demonstrate how powerful the technology is," commented Styron sales and marketing manager Olivier Véron. “With the introduction of Styron's generation two SSBR 4602, compared with our generation one SSBR 4601 for the rolling resistance we can move from the rating C to B, while maintaining all the other properties identical like the grip and the handling."
According to local news reports, Yokohama intends to more than double production in the Philippines by 2017. The Philippine Daily Inquirer writes that the tyre maker’s local subsidiary, Yokohama Tire Philippines, Inc., plans to increase output from its current daily level of 21,000 units to 50,000 tyres a day within five years. This news is said to have been announced by Philippine trade undersecretary Merly M. Cruz.
Heuver Tyrewholesale says it is able to look back on Reifen 2012 with a great deal of satisfaction. The Dutch company says the introduction of new products at the show ensured an exceptionally high volume of visitors and interest from customers, with a record number of orders being placed during the show. “This is something we haven't experienced before at Reifen,” said company director Bertus Heuver.
The 27th Reifen show in Essen was the best yet with 19,000 trade visitors in attendance, according to show organisers Messe Essen. While the company announced that it had the largest number of exhibitors in the event’s history and the strongest international participation before the show, increased footfall was confirmed at the end of the event. Talk of tyre labelling and the new products linked to this legislation dominated the trade fair.
In addition to the latest tyres and related equipment available for purchase now, numerous exhibitors at Reifen 2012 are showing concept and upcoming products. One such company is Turkish brand Lassa, which is displaying its Greenways range. Vicki Tillson, UK branch manager for Lassa manufacturer Brisa, told Tyres & Accessories that the Greenways eco-friendly passenger car tyre line-up is scheduled for release in 2013 and will be available in 20 sizes from 14 to 16-inch rim diameters, 70 to 55 aspect ratio and T and H speed ratings.
At the end of May, eight years after it began hosting such events, the Tyre Recovery Association held its annual Forum day in Warwickshire. This year’s was entitled “a commitment to excellence” and saw speakers representing everyone from Michelin Tyre Plc to the Environment Agency and ATS Euromaster share their perspectives of how excellence can be achieved.
Bridgestone recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of its Bari plant in Italy. The tyre maker held an open day for employees and more than 700 attendees, and festivities were attended by local management and Ryutaro Ishii, senior vice-president Manufacturing Bridgestone Europe. During the event, Bridgestone presented awards to long-serving employees and also celebrated 2.5 million work hours with “zero accidents” at the plant.
Bridgestone Corporation has announced that, together with Ajinomoto Co., Inc, it has developed polymerised high-cis polyisoprene (IR), a synthetic rubber produced using bio-based isoprene, a substance produced from biomass raw materials using fermentation technology. The partners say they aim to commercialise this synthetic rubber for use in tyres and are proceeding with further research.
Trelleborg Wheel Systems has announced that it plans to implement price increases on agricultural and forestry tyres and wheels.
The price hike of up to 5.5 per cent in North America takes effect in July 2012, on all tyres and wheels designed for use in agricultural, forestry and light industrial applications.
All the news, features and reviews you expect from Tyres & Accessories are available for subscribers to view in e-magazine format. The May issue of T&A focusses on industrial tyres, raw materials, along with the conclusion of our comprehensive preview of Reifen Essen 2012. Subscribers can flick through the pages by clicking more.
In addition to three new designs of pre-cured treads, Brazilian retreading materials manufacturer has confirmed that it will display its ECO line of precured treads. The company, which has three distribution centres in Europe, says the ECO treads provide decreased fuel consumption and a increased longevity.
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.
