raw materials Archives - Page 47 of 88 - Tyrepress

Raw Materials

Posts

Surprising results for Bridgestone survey at 2011 CV Show

Bridgestone is reporting and surprising insights into what people really look for when it comes to choosing their commercial vehicle tyres gleaned from the thousands of visitors at this year’s CV Show. The Bridgestone stand, which incorporated the Rizla Suzuki MotoGP bike, also offered visitors the chance to win two hospitality tickets to the British MotoGP in exchange for a crucial piece of information – what is the single most important factor in your choice of tyre supplier?

3rd May 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo raises commercial tyre prices in US

A price adjustment taking effect on May 1, 2011 will see the price of all commercial vehicle tyres sold by Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. increase by up to 15 per cent, with in-line adjustments occurring. The manufacturer states this rise reflects the continued escalation in raw material costs. “Due to the steep increase in the costs of raw materials affecting our industry, we must reluctantly raise prices of our product,” said John Hagan, senior director, sales, Toyo Tire U.S.A. “We appreciate the continued support and understanding of our dealers as we remain committed to providing the highest quality products.”

27th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Nexen opens European Technical Center in Frankfurt/Hoechst

Nexen Tyre opened a technical centre in vicinity of Frankfurt, Germany in March. Nexen Europe Technical Center (NETC) in Frankfurt/Hoechst aims to be Europe and Korea’s interface for Nexen’s engineering development. At the private opening celebration, Min-Hyeon Han, head senior executive and vice president of Nexen Tyre’s Research and Development Center in Korea emphasized Europe’s central role in the brand’s global expansion. Nexen has set itself the objective of becoming one of the top ten tyre manufacturers worldwide by 2015.

21st April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyres & Accessories April 2011

Good news for all Tyres & Accessories/tyrepress.com subscribers. With just a subscription and a click on the more link below you can now access the latest issue of the magazine in virtual paper format. The April issue contains features on the wheel business, the effect of raw material costs on the tyre industry and a review of some new additions to the diagnostics market.

20th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

South Korea’s growing replacement tyre market valued at US$800 million

International News, News

With South Korean replacement car tyre sales of over 8.6 million units worth US$800.9 billion last year, the replacement tyre business joins the rest of the automotive industry in being a major part of the entire local economy. According to GfK’s automotive retail audit sales in second half of the year climbed 15 per cent over first half and nearly 30 per cent compared to the same period in 2009.

20th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Evonik sells carbon black business to Rhône Capital

Evonik Industries has announced that it has signed an agreement with affiliates of Rhône Capital LLC to sell its carbon black business for over 900 million euros, including the assumption of certain obligations. For its part Evonik reports that it “continues to focus systematically on its core chemical businesses.” Carbon Black is being acquired intact as a whole, with its 1,650 employees, about 500 of whom are based in Germany.
The deal is subject to approval by Evonik’s supervisory board, antitrust authorities etc, but is expected to close during the summer of 2011.

18th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli to raise EMEA prices

New prices for Pirelli products come into effect on June 1; the Italian tyre maker is increasing prices in all EMEA region markets for passenger car, motorcycle, scooter, light industrial and heavy industrial tyres. The increases will be up to six per cent for summer tyres and up to 12 per cent for winter tyres in Europe, and up to ten per cent for all tyres in the Middle East and Africa. Pirelli says the price adjustment is a consequence of the rising cost of key raw materials, in particular natural rubber and oil.

13th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Evonik erects isobutene plant at Antwerp site

Following an investment of “tens of millions” of euros, Evonik Industries has added a high-purity isobutene plant to its facility in Antwerp, Belgium. The new plant can produce up to 110,000 tonnes of isobutene per annum and forms part of the site’s integrated C4 production platform. The investment has tripled Evonik’s production capacity for isobutene, which is used in butyl rubber of applications such as reducing air permeability in tyres.

12th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama lifts US market OTR tyre prices

Prices for all OTR tyres sold by Yokohama Tire Corporation in the US will increase by up to ten per cent on May 1. The tyre maker states that, in addition to this increase, other in-line adjustments will be announced at a later date. Announcing the scheduled increase, Yokohama Tire Corporation’s vice-president of OTR sales, Gary Nash, reassured consumers that the revised pricing was not due to the recent earthquake in Japan: “It’s from the escalating costs of raw materials, such as natural rubber,” he said, adding that additional factors necessitating the increase are the rising costs in transportation and manufacturing. “We do our best to integrate our operational efficiencies, technology and environmental procedures to produce the best OTR tyres at competitive prices. The increasing costs, unfortunately, must be reflected in our product pricing.”

6th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Price rises are affecting auto parts too

After months and months of price increases from tyre manufacturers, owing to the fact that demand for raw materials such as natural rubber has gone through the roof, it is now clear that the same pressures are affecting those purchase automotive parts too. Asking the question, what is driving current price increases? Dave Cheetham, exhaust maker Klarius Group’s chief financial officer, has warned that further price rises are inevitable in the aftermarket auto parts supply chain as well.

5th April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Bandag pursuing a “fair share” approach to price increases

Last year Bridgestone Bandag – one of the largest competitors in the European retreading market – only announced minor price increases. In February this year, however, the manufacturer and franchisor needed to raise its prices by an average of six per cent. As Harald Van Ooteghem, Brussels based senior manager for TBR/Retread Business Planning at Bridgestone Europe, explains to Tyres & Accessories, in the event of price increases an attempt is made to implement a “fair share” approach by which both partners – the supplier and customer – share the extra burden.

1st April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Rubber increases export tyre prices up to 15%

The Yokohama Rubber Co., Ltd., announced today that it will increase the prices of its export tyre products starting from April 2011, due to sharply rising raw material costs. The price increases will apply to all tyre products for passenger cars, light trucks, trucks and buses, and vehicles for construction and industry, for all markets outside Japan. The company said it will “endeavour to hold the increase within a maximum of 15 per cent, but higher prices may be necessary for specific regions or products.”

1st April 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

'We are here to stay': Hangzhou Zhongce invests in R&D expansion and new HQ

Already purportedly the largest tyre manufacturer based in China (with annual turnover equating to around US$3.38 billion in 2010) and currently number 11 in the world, Hangzhou Zhongce reports that it expects to climb up the rankings following the opening of a new factory during the middle of next year.

In the medium term the ambition (something that Chinese manufacturers are seldom short of) is for the company to maintain a top 10, perhaps ninth, and beyond. Although this could mean leap-frogging other fast-growing Far Eastern competitors (including the increasingly influential Korean set), during a recent meeting in London with executives and research and development heads Hanzhou Zhongce representatives reiterated their intentions of becoming world-class players, inviting partners to “craft a better future” through the Chinese tyre maker's Westlake brand. The CEO of the Westlake brand, who reports directly to the president of Hangzhou Zhongce and who was introduced as Mr. Ge, was in attendance.

30th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Price increase for Conti’s Asia-Pacific replacement business

The second quarter of 2011 will begin with price increases for a number of Continental Tires’ products in the Asia-Pacific replacement market. Prices of Continental branded passenger and light truck tyres will rise by up to five per cent, while truck and bus radials will be subject to price increases of up to six per cent. Other Continental owned brands face increases of up to nine per cent. The tyre maker says specific details of percentage increases and the timing of their introduction will be “communicated locally across the region.” In announcing the increases, Continental points to the rising costs of raw materials as the primary reason behind its need to review prices.

29th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre shipments restart at Toyo’s Sendai plant

A further step towards normality was achieved at Toyo Tire & Rubber’s Sendai factory in Japan’s Miyagi Prefecture yesterday with the resumption of limited shipments of tyres from the plant a day after production was restarted. Toyo reiterates that production and deliveries will continue to be “on a restricted basis” for the time being due to the limited availability of electricity, fuel and raw materials, and the disruptions from the still-recovering transportation system. Production at Sendai will continue to rise, Toyo assures its customers, and will return to the correct level “at the earliest possible date.”

25th March 2011/by Tyrepress Editors