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Lanxess “ready” for growth in rubber demand

At its most recent “Rubber Day”, held today in Germany, specialty chemicals company Lanxess reported it expects – and is well equipped for – a labelling-related boost in demand for high performance rubber. Speaking at the event, company Board of Management chairman Axel C. Heitmann said “in order to meet the new legislation and the expected customer demand, our high-tech materials are essential. As the world’s largest partner for the tyre industry, we have adapted to the trend on time. We have made the right strategic investment decisions and have strengthened our capacities.”

21st September 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone announces North American price increases

Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations has announced price increases for passenger and light truck consumer replacement and original equipment tyres in the United States and Canada, effective from 1 November. Prices for Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand passenger and light truck tyres will increase by up to eight per cent.

9th September 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Standards Testing Labs to host tyre technology seminar

Registration is now open for Standards Testing Laboratories annual Tyre Technology Seminar, held on 18-20 October, 2011 at the company's Massillon, Ohio headquarters. The seminar is a two and a half day event that aims to provide “a comprehensive overview of the technology employed by the tyre industry,” according to the STL. Speakers from the engineering, chemistry and mechanics/vehicle dynamics fields will address topics including tyre testing, tyre design and research, tyre engineering and compounding, product development and advanced concepts. The deadline to register for the seminar is 30 September.

9th September 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Maxxis Rewards reinstated via Maxxis International website

Maxxis has announced that it is bringing back its “hugely popular” Maxxis Rewards programme for the remainder of 2011 and into next year. The initiative was suspended temporarily during the summer while the brand’s exclusive distribution agreement with Grouptyre was dissolved. Maxxis Rewards was previously run in conjunction with the wholesaler, and while Maxxis says it will continue to supply Grouptyre in the foreseeable future, the incentive programme will now be run through the company’s own website. Retailers are encouraged to register through the Rewards microsite, or to contact Denise Prout at Maxxis Internation UK.

9th September 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Multistrada bid falls through

Career Tracks, International News

The scramble to purchase a controlling stake in Indonesia’s second largest tyre manufacturer Multistrada Arah Sarana PT continues, as Reuters reports that the company’s shareholders have rejected a bid from Hankook for a controlling stake. Yokohama and private equity investment firm TPG Capital are reported to be the other bidders, though a Hankook spokesperson told Reuters that “none of the bids satisfied” Multistrada’s shareholders.

6th September 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

China’s clean oil production ‘unlikely to grow’

China’s production of treated distillate aromatic extract (TDAE) – so-called ‘clean oil’, is “unlikely to grow significantly” according to a report published in online chemical industry journal icis.com. The reason? The “poor demand for the product” which itself is probably due to the fact that it costs 30 per cent more than the regular aromatics-based rubber oil.

5th September 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Steel price down 15% in 6 months

The price of steel price has dropped US$120-130/tone in Europe (North European HRC) since March and now sites around $730-770/ton level (515 – 540 euros/ton), according too financial analysts. Writing in an investor’s note dated 30 August, Deutsche Bank explained its view of that the market has stabilised in the medium term market: “We expect current prices to remain more or less stable in the second half of 11 and for full year 2012.”

30th August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Eurotire announces bias, radial price increases

OTR tyre company Eurotire has announced that it will increase prices by up to 9.8 per cent on all its OTR bias tyres and up to 11.5 per cent on all its OTR radial tyres, effective globally on 5 September, 2011. Orders delivered before then will be at pre-increase prices.

24th August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Dow, Lehigh partner to develop sustainable tyre rubber

Specialty chemical and advanced materials manufacturer Dow Chemical Company and Lehigh technologies, manufacturer of sustainable, micronised rubber powders, have announced their intention to collaborate in order to develop sustainable materials for the tyre industry. Under this partnership, the two companies will combine proprietary technologies to create modified rubber particles, a programme that will combine Dow's expertise in polymer chemistry with Lehigh's strength in sustainable rubber compound development and testing.

23rd August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Tire grant emphasises ‘renewed commitment’ to technical capabilities

Elaborating on news of a recent US$1.5 million grant received from a US Department of Energy (DOE) agency, Cooper Tire & Rubber says the funding will go towards accelerating the “development and refinement of innovative tyre design, construction, materials and reinforcement technologies focused on the replacement tyre market.” The grant from the DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy calls for Cooper to develop an ultra lightweight tyre that delivers a minimum three per cent improvement in vehicle fuel efficiency. The anticipated timeframe for achieving this breakthrough is three years.

23rd August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Triangle to work with University of Akron in rubber and elastomer research projects

The city of Akron boasts strong credentials for being the tyre industry capital of the United States. Back in the US industry’s glory days it went by the name of “Tire City” and was home to the four major domestic players, Goodrich, Goodyear, Firestone and General Tire. Goodyear is the only one of this quartet to retain its main domicile there, the other three having been respectively acquired by Michelin, Bridgestone and Continental, yet in recent years new arrivals have also chosen Akron as home. Today both BKT and Trelleborg operate their national operations out of the city and Bridgestone’s US Technical Center is also located there. As of August 19, Chinese manufacturer the Triangle Group has added its name to this list with the opening of its US headquarters and research and development company.

22nd August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Cheng Shin continues growth, stock rating upgraded

Financial analysts have upgraded their view of shares in the Maxxis tyre brand’s manufacturing parent company Cheng Shin Rubber. Describing it as “one of the most successful Taiwan stories in China”; Morgan Stanley gave Cheng Shin the “overweight” rating, raising its earnings per share projections by 1 per cent and 9 per cent for 2011 and 2012 respectively. At the same time the stock’s price target was raise from NT$68.33 to NT$78.3.

19th August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Nokian employs ‘C3’ system to organise product and materials scheduling

Canadian specialist yard management and dock scheduling software solutions provider C3 Solutions reports that Nokian Tyres has adopted its C3 Reservations system in its key European manufacturing facilities and distribution centres. The Finnish manufacturer’s sites in Nokia and in Vsevolozhsk, Russia are two locations named as beneficiaries of the new system, which is intended to optimise the scheduling of raw materials and finished products to, from and between the company’s facilities.

19th August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

US Yokohama OTR tyre prices heading upwards

Price increases of up to 11 per cent for all US market OTR tyres will be implemented by Yokohama Tire Corporation on September 1. These price rises will also be accompanied by in-line adjustments, the details of which will be announced at a later date.

18th August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Japanese tyre makers avoid share price carnage

Despite the fact that their homeland suffered the combined catastrophe of earthquake and tsunami earlier this year Japanese tyre makers faired surprisingly well at the stock exchange in August at a time when the share prices of virtually all the other tyre majors took a beating. (See “Bloodbath at the stock exchange”).

17th August 2011/by Tyrepress Editors