Raw Materials
Last year was a “very challenging year” for Yokohama Tire Corporation, reports Dan King, senior vice-president of sales and marketing at Yokohama’s North American operation. King describes the North American consumer tyre market as being “basically flat” and says in light of this Yokohama was pleased to have grown in all segments of its business.
Clemson University in the USA announces the 28th Annual Tire Industry Conference, which is being held between April 18–20, 2012 at Westin Resort and Spa, Hilton Head, South Carolina.
On 8 February Indian tyre maker Ceat Ltd informed the Bombay Stock Exchange that its Board of Directors has agreed on plans to establish a new facility in Bangladesh. The plant will be capable of producing 65 tonnes of tyres per day, the BSE filing stated.
The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) reports that Q1 2012 Production Growth is expected to marginally increase by 0.3 per cent. During 2011ANRPC's total production rose 6.7 per cent to 10.127 million tons, faster than the 6.4 per cent rate expected until a month ago. The upward revision results from a better-than-expected output from Vietnam for the year. The country produced 811,600 tons of NR in 2011 as against 780,000 tons as anticipated earlier and 751,700 tons produced in the year before.
It’s been almost two years since Lanxess’ Jhagadia production site in India began supplying antioxidants to tyre industry customers, and now the range of products manufactured there has been expanded. Lanxess subsidiary Rhein Chemie has established a facility in Jhagadia for the production of the pre-dispersed rubber additive Rhenogran and the environmentally-friendly release agent Rhenodiv in Jhagadia. The plant was formerly located in Madurai, in India’s Tamil Nadu state, and is one of three new units being set up in Jhagadia. In total, Lanxess has invested more than 70 million euros there and created 300 new jobs. Jhagadia is Lanxess’ second largest production site in India after its site in Nagda in Madhya Pradesh state, and covers an area of 18-hectares.
China’s Keyuan Petrochemicals has announced that one of the production lines for Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) at its new plant in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, has commenced commercial production. Keyuan conducted tests on the line in the final quarter of last year following completion of its new 70,000 tonne SBS production facility in September 2011. The first line entered commercial production in December and the company says that during the quarter it produced 2,733 tonnes and sold 2,623 tonnes of the substance used by tyre makers.
According to Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries estimates, in 2012 China will produce some 750,000 tonnes of natural rubber, an increase of around six per cent on last year. Yet during the same period the country is expected to consume 3,610,000 tonnes of the commodity. To help meet this huge demand for imported natural rubber, China’s Hainan Natural Rubber Industry Group has signed an agreement with Sierra Leone, a deal expected to be the largest agricultural investment in the West African country’s history.
Bridgestone Europe is to roll out a new round of price increases for retread materials across Europe during the first quarter of 2012. Starting on 1 March and varying from country to country, price increases will average 10 per cent for Bridgestone and Bandag pre-cure tread products and 8 per cent for Bandag cushion gum products.
AGCO has awarded its highest supplier rating to Mitas for deliveries of farm tyres from January to December 2011. The Mitas-produced brand Continental is a standard fitment in four out of six AGCO’s model series – for example Fendt 924-930 Vario. According to the company, AGCO evaluates its suppliers’ quality, logistics, customer service and protection of the environment, in all of which Mitas received the highest grade. Mitas has received the overall A award annually since acquiring production of Continental farm tyres in 2004.
Yasushi Tanaka, who took over as president and CEO of Yokohama Tire Corporation in July 2011, reports that parent company Yokohama Rubber is ready to commence the third phase of its ‘Grand Design 100’ plan this year, a plan he is credit as being co-architect and co-founder of. This penultimate phase is scheduled to be acted upon until 2015, when the fourth and final phase will come into effect and be carried out over a two-year period before concluding in time for the company’s centenary in 2017.
During the first quarter of 2012 Bridgestone Europe will roll out a new round of price increases for retread materials across the region it serves. Starting from 1 March and varying from country to country, price increases will average ten per cent for Bridgestone and Bandag Pre Cured Tread products and eight per cent for Bandag Cushion Gum products.
The Westlake tyre brand is named after one of China’s most popular domestic tourist destinations and a 2011 addition to UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites – the freshwater West Lake in the centre of Hangzhou, the home town of its manufacturer Hangzhou Zhongce, located around 180km south-west of Shanghao. Shen Jin-Rong, Hangzhou Zhongce president and chairman, reflects with pride on the link between what is seen as a premier Chinese location and the tyre brand named after it: “Westlake is our tyre brand and also the best place in our city.” The Al Dobowi Group distributes the brand in several European territories through its Eskay Tyres subsidiary; the newly exclusive distributor of the brand in the UK was announced as Axle Group Holdings at the end of September – owner of the Viking International wholesale arm and the National Tyres & Autocare retail chain (see T&A October’s Wholesale feature and the Related News link below). Tyres & Accessories travelled to the town from Shanghai with representatives from the Al Dobowi Group to see the development of Hangzhou Zhongce’s manufacturing facilities, and to witness the growth in interaction between the manufacturer and European dealers of its Westlake brand.
Yokohama Tire Corporation is ringing in the New Year with hefty price rises on its OTR tyres. As of 1 January 2012, base prices for these products in the US will increase by up to 15 per cent; this list price adjustment will be followed by additional in-line adjustments, the details of which Yokohama will announce at a later date.
Looking back on 2011 and forward to the coming year, Rick Phillips, Yokohama Tire Corporation’s director of commercial sales, states that the tyre maker expects the strong demand it has experienced in the North American market this year to continue. “Demand has continued to outweigh supply so we have literally sold everything that we are able to build,” he commented. “As an industry, we will go into 2012 with very little beginning inventory, much like we did in 2011…we see the demand continuing to be greater than supply, at least through next summer. Despite reports on the economy being on the brink of another recession, the trucking industry remains strong.” Phillips believes that high levels of demand, particularly within the OEM segment, may lead to further pressure upon the replacement market.
The 2011 edition of Bridgestone Europe’s “Environmental Commitment and Performance” report has been released, and in addition to updating consumption and emissions data for European manufacturing operations, the company has introduced this latest report with an overview of its environmental strategies. These, according to the report, centre on three main objectives – being in harmony with nature, valuing natural resources and reducing CO2 emissions. The report also explains that Bridgestone Europe intends to implement its environmental mission through two core strategies, namely a commitment to open environmental communication and the implementation of TEAMS, a Total Environmental Advanced Management System.
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