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Natural Rubber Shortage Will Bring More Tyre Price Hikes

Calling it the worst natural rubber shortage in years, industry analysts expect record shortages to continue into next year, according to reports. Heavy demand by tyre-makers around the globe coupled with a combination of drought and heavy rains in plantation areas has sharply reduced output and inventories of natural rubber, according to Bloomberg, with analysts saying natural rubber production will continue to lag for the next two years. What that means is further increases in natural rubber costs to tyre-makers, and higher finished good prices for tyre dealers and consumers.

21st September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

American Tyre Manufacturers Announce Price Hikes to Meet Rubber Costs

Major American tyre-makers, Goodyear and Cooper have announced that they will raise North American retail prices by up to 6.5 per cent, tracking the continuing rise of raw material costs. Spokespeople for both companies told Bloomberg today that following the price rises implemented in June, materials such as rubber have continued to rise, making further hikes necessary.

21st September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Evonik to Divest Carbon Blacks Business

Germany’s Evonik Industries has decided to divest its carbon blacks business. This divestment, claims Evonik Executive Board chairman Klaus Engel, provides “the best basis for sustained investment in carbon blacks, new growth prospects and for securing future-oriented jobs in the long-term.” Engel also states that the company’s declared aim in divesting the business is to find a solution “that is equally convincing for customers, employees and business partners.”

20th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Trelleborg Introduces ‘Unique’ Production Technology at Enlarged Solid Tyre Plant

The consolidation of Trelleborg’s solid industrial tyre capacity in Sri Lanka has taken a further step forward with the opening of the enlarged Trelleborg Wheel Systems plant outside the city of Colombo. The company estimates that approximately 80 per cent of its total global solid industrial tyre production now is now carried out in Sri Lanka, a country it says is a “natural location” for it to consolidate production as it has an “excellent” raw materials infrastructure.

17th September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear to Hike US Tyre Prices

Goodyear has revealed that it will raise its US consumer tyre prices by up to 6 per cent on 1 October due to the persistent rise in raw materials costs. The increase will, according to US sources, affect all of the company’s brands, including Goodyear, Dunlop and Kelly.

3rd September 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Announces Cross-Segment European Price Increase

Bridgestone has announced that it will raise the prices by between 3 and 6 per cent of its consumer, commercial and speciality tyres in Europe during October 2010. Bridgestone Europe CEO and president Makio Ohashi said that “historically high” raw materials prices had necessitated the hike, while “further increases will be necessary in the coming year”.

31st August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental: Truck Tyre Buyers Have Been Price Sensitive

From Continental’s perspective, sales across the EU in the truck tyre replacement market are up 29 per cent versus the same timeframe last year, with the UK figure said to be up 5.5 per cent, a few percentage points less than other estimates. Raw materials are still increasing, with the knock-on effect of pushing tyre prices up. Supply is also expected to be tight in the second half, as tyre manufacturers are struggling to meet the increase in demand (and cope with the shortage of raw materials). “We are also seeing a high level of hire vehicle utilisation which could lead to vehicle shortages towards the end of the year,” company representatives told Tyres & Accessories recently.

31st August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Morgan Stanley Upgrades Michelin to Overweight, Doubles Target Price

Morgan Stanley analysts have upgraded Michelin shares to “overweight” and more than doubled their target price from 36 – 80 euros, commenting that the French tyre manufacturer “can surprise again.” This means analysts believe Michelin will beat consensus earning projections by more than a fifth: “We expect earnings to come in 20-25 per cent above consensus and cash generation to surprise significantly.”

In an investors note published 25 August, Morgan Stanley’s Eduardo Spina explained that the upgrade is based on the fact that while Michelin stock trades at a roughly 25 per cent discount historically, “high earnings visibility” and pent-up demand contribute to making it attractive. As a result Spin predicts that earnings per share will ramp up to 10 euros by 2012, 25 per cent above the consensus of 8 euros by the same point.

26th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Blame it on the Rain

Rubber prices have reached their highest level in more than three months, in part due to concern that rainfall in key producing countries will reduce supply of the commodity. Heavy rain is expected across Thailand, the world’s number one producer, and a La Nina weather event may persist in Southeast Asia until at least the end of this year.

19th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti’s 702 million euro EBIT was 10% Ahead of Consensus

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have upgraded their target price for Continental stock following second quarter results that were 10 per cent higher than consensus, while reducing net debt by 220 million euros to 8 billion. “We feel comfortable bringing our ’10 EPS to 4.92 euros and increasing ’11 and ’12 EPS by 25-35 per cent…We believe Conti shares will benefit as the debt refinancing continues – but we cannot justify an overweight rating with only 18 per cent upside potential to our price target. Moreover, numerous unknown factors, including risks related to Schaeffler’s continued 75.1 per cent dominance over the company, keep us on the sidelines,” the bank’s analysts wrote in an investor’s note published on 30 July.

9th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Rubber Filler Manufacturer to Build Asia Eco-Mineral Plant

Fly ash recycling technology firm RockTron has announced it will launch RockTron Asia at the IGEM Conference in Malaysia between 17 and 24 October. Malaysia will provide the British company’s first Asian facility, which will be able to recycle 100 per cent of both fresh and stockpiled coal-fired power station waste (otherwise known as fly ash) through its closed wet system, without any waste stream, according to the company. The processed “eco-minerals” can be used to manufacture tyre rubber filler, as a company representative explains: “RockTron’s product MinTron is a filler for tyre rubber and costs a fraction of the market price (approximately 25-40 per cent less). The amount destined for tyre application is limited to how much a client wishes to order (i.e. it is limitless). Our UK plant at fiddlers ferry is capable of recycling 800,000 tonnes of fly ash and turning it into fillers for rubber in tyres.”

9th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Despite Challenges, Bridgestone Rides Recovery in H1 2010

For Bridgestone, the first half of the 2010 financial year presented an operating environment “plagued by rising prices for raw materials.” Yet, despite these challenges, the Japanese tyre maker saw signs of a slight recovery in its domestic market plus a gradual recovery in the US and accelerated recovery in Asia and particularly in China. Bridgestone acknowledges that conditions in Europe remain “challenging”, but notes that the business climate there showed signs of bottoming out. In these operating conditions, Bridgestone states that during the six months to June 30, 2010 it stepped up efforts to improve manufacturing productivity, increase sales of highly competitive products, strengthen supply capacity and effectively utilise its management resources.

6th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Maxxis Presents Supplier Award to ExxonMobil

Maxxis has honoured its three decade long relationship with ExxonMobil Chemical (EMC) by naming it as a Best Supplier. Maxxis has purchased butyl products, used in the manufacture of its tyres, from ExxonMobil Chemical for more than 35 years and the award recognises the two companies’ history of joint technology development as well as EMC’s leading–edge technology and advanced technical support.

4th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

NZG Technology Key to Michelin’s Aircraft Tyre Segment Success

As Tyres & Accessories has reported on its tyrepress.com website, Michelin has recently secured a number of aircraft tyre supply deals. The French manufacturer was named the sole tire supplier for the Bombardier CSeries family and was chosen by Air France and KLM to equip their commercial aircraft. It has also been selected by Turkish Airlines, as well as by Russia’s Sukhoi to supply original equipment tyres exclusively for its SSJ100 Regional Jet. In addition, Michelin has been awarded an exclusive contract to provide original equipment tyres for the Gulfstream IAI G250, due to be launched in late 2010, and its tyres are in the process of being certified by Embraer for its E-170/175 family of airliners.

4th August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Marangoni Announces up to 12% Price Increase

Marangoni Retreading Systems has announced that it will implement its third price increase this year on the tread rubber tyre retreading materials (and related products) it sell to the tyre retreading industry. According to an official statement published on 3 August, the prices will be increased by up to 12 per cent with immediate effect in Europe. Marangoni’s management said the increase is due to “sharp rises in the prices of raw materials.”

3rd August 2010/by Tyrepress Editors