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Michelin: Winning Customers Over to Four Lives

If a retreading themed interview began with the sentence “we operate no retreading business”, than the interviewer has either turned up at the wrong appointment entirely – or is speaking with those in charge at Michelin. The focus of the French company’s commitment thus does not centre upon a marketable product or item, but on a concept – specifically, the concept that a Michelin commercial vehicle tyre has “Four Lives”. “Our concept is the most economic and most environmental on the market,” Jean-Marc Lechêne told Tyres & Accessories. The executive vice-president and chief operating officer (COO) for truck tyres in Europe is convinced that the ongoing professionalisation of truck fleets in Europe will further increase the establishment of professional (service) arrangements.

22nd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Launches Eco-Conscious SUV Tyre

Pirelli has launched its new Scorpion Verde tyre, developed to meet what the company perceives as the SUV market’s need for increased fuel efficiency. With more than just one eye on upcoming tyre labelling regulations, Pirelli claims that the Scorpion Verde boasts greatly improved rolling resistance from previous high performance SUV offerings, making it “the first high-performance eco tyre for vehicles with the highest environmental impact – SUVs and Crossovers.”

22nd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Stamford Quarter Sales and Profits Up

Stamford Tyres has released unaudited results for the third quarter of its 2010 financial year – a quarter that, unusually, spans the period between November 1, 2009 and January 31, 2010. The company attained a total revenue of S$81.73 (£) during the quarter, and increase of 29.21 per cent on the same period a year earlier. Net profit amounted to S$2.37 million (£), compared with a profit of only $102,000 during the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year.

19th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Announces Industrial Tyre Price Rises

As of April 1, 2010, prices for aftermarket Continental industrial tyres will increase by up to eight per cent in Europe. The company says this measure has been taken in response to “extremely sharp rises” in the cost of raw materials, especially natural rubber, and pronounced increases in freight costs, dating back to the second half of 2009. The company comments it had previously managed to keep prices for industrial tyres in the aftermarket business stable since April 2009.

18th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

After Strong 2009, Hankook Looks to Take it to Another Level

During Hankook Tire America’s recent dealer meeting in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Tire Review had the opportunity to sit down and discuss a wide range of issues with its new president Soo Il Lee, Bill Bainbridge, director of brand communications, and Todd Hershberger, senior vice president of sales and marketing.

12th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli – 20% More Capacity by end of 2011

During the company’s 2009 full financial year conference call on March 10, Pirelli Tyre CEO Dr. Francesco Gori discussed a number of plans for this and the coming year. “Our strategic guidelines for 2010 confirm our strategic positioning in line with our business plan,” he stated. “And the distinctive strategic features are focused on the strong and truly global brand that made us improve once more our position in the top consumer segments. It selected exposure in emerging markets with a focus on Latin America, where we are clearly number one, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. Our expectation for 2010 is to further improve our revenues in the industrial business by fully exploiting the potentials in those geographies.”

12th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Major Manufacturers Testing Ekoprena

Two years ago Sumitomo Rubber subsidiary Dunlop Falken Tyres Ltd releases the Enasave 97, a tyre containing only three per cent petroleum derived materials. The substance enabling this close to total freedom from synthetic rubber in the Ensave 97 is Ekoprena, an epoxidised natural rubber. Significant development work on compounds based upon this rubber has been undertaken by TARRC, the UK based laboratory operated by the Malaysian Rubber Board. TARRC’s consultancy arm, Rubber Consultants, recently attended Tire Technology Expo in Germany and reported on the latest Ekoprena developments.

11th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Despite Reduced Sales, Pirelli Tyre Records Stronger Profit in 2009

Financial statements approved by the Pirelli & C. SpA Board of Directors on March 10 show Pirelli Tyre to have attained revenues of 3,992.9 million euros during 2009, a 2.6 per cent reduction on a year earlier. Despite this slight annual decrease, sales in the fourth quarter leapt 18.7 per cent – an organic growth of 13. 9 per cent – to 1,034.3 million euros EBITDA before restructuring charges amounted to 538 million euros, up 21.9 per cent compared with 2008, or 13.5 per cent of sales, compared with 10.8 per cent of sales a year earlier. In the fourth quarter, EBITDA before restructuring charges stood at 155.2 million euros compared with 62.9 million euros in the corresponding period of 2008, with the sales margin rising to 15 per cent from 7.2 per cent in the same period of 2008. EBIT before restructuring charges was 345.5 million euros, or 8.7 per cent of sales (6.1 per cent in 2008) representing an increase of 37.8 per cent compared with 250.7 million euros in the previous year. In the fourth quarter, EBIT before restructuring charges amounted to 104.7 million euros (10.1 per cent of sales) compared with 18.9 million euros (2.2 per cent of sales) in the corresponding period of 2008.

11th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Examining Options for Brazil Retreading Chemical Production

Some 18 million truck and bus tyres are said to be retreaded in North America each year and a further nine million in South America, and to meet growing demand for the raw materials used in retreading both within the region and worldwide, Lanxess’s Performance Butadiene Rubbers (PBR) business unit is “considering the possibility” of manufacturing ESBR-BMB (emulsion styrene-butadiene rubber black masterbatch) in Brazil in the future. Options for doing so at its Triunfo or Caxias production sites are currently being examined.

10th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Growing Demand, Tyre Labelling Prompts Lanxess to Boost Nd-PBR Capacity

Some 20 million euros are to be invested in increasing production of Neodymium Polybutadiene (Nd-PBR) rubber at Lanxess’s sites at Dormagen in Germany, Orange (Texas), USA and Cabo in Brazil. In total, 50,000 additional tonnes of the high-performance rubber will be manufactured at the three sites once the extra capacities go on stream between the first quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012.

10th March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Raw Material Price Cuts Gave Michelin 318 million euros Tailwind in 2H

Financial analysts responded positively to the results, describing second-half 2009 financial position as a “major positive.” However, some key coverage decided against giving forward-looking outlook advice, citing fluctuating raw material costs (specifically natural rubber) as their reasoning.

Writing in an investor’s note dated 12 February, Morgan Stanley representatives commented: “Operating profit was 5 per cent better than consensus, but 3 per cent below our estimate…Net debt was significantly better than expected, ending 2009 at 3.05 billion euros versus our 3.5 billion euros estimate (consensus at 3.6 billion euros).”

3rd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Global Carbon Black Demand to Rise 4.3% a Year till 2013

World carbon black demand is forecast to rise 4.3 per cent per year every year until 2013, according to research published by Bharat Books. The report suggests annual demand will reach 11.6 million metric tonnes in 2013 bolstered by a healthy global rubber market in the same period. 60 per cent of demand is said to come from tyre applications. Carbon black demand from the tyre sector is projected to increase 3.7 per cent a year through 2013 to 6.9 million metric tonnes.

2nd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Pays 50-Year High for Thai Rubber

A Reuters report says Bridgestone paid $3.28/kg for some quantities on Thai RSS3 rubber in a deal that represents the highest price paid for the grade in 58 years. The report spoke to a dealer in Hat Yai, Thailand, who stated that the Japanese tyre-maker “has been in the market almost every day lately” but that only relatively small quantities were changing hands. The dealer also said that there was little “buying interest from China” currently.

2nd March 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Raising Prices in Europe

Pirelli has announced a four to six per cent price increase for all passenger car, SUV, light commercial vehicle, motorcycle and industrial vehicle tyres in European markets. The company says the increase, effective from 1 April, 2010, follows the growth of raw materials costs, especially that of natural rubber, which more than doubled in the last 12 months.

23rd February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Reports 19% Fewer Tyre Sales during a “Challenging” 2009

Bridgestone Corporation reports that 2009 presented the company with a “challenging” operating environment due to weakened consumer spending and declines in private sector capital investment which counteracted signs of recovery among some exports. However, the Japanese manufacturer states that although the economic recession in Europe and the US continued, some sectors showed signs of stabilisation. A recovery in business climate was observed in China and despite challenging conditions, the business climate in other regions began to show slight signs of recovery. Against such a backdrop, the tyre major achieved net sales of 2,597.0 billion yen (₤18.3 billion), a 20 per cent decrease on the 2008 fiscal year. Operating income, at 75.7 billion yen (₤532.2 million) was 42 per cent down on the previous year and net income, at 1.0 billion yen (₤7.0 million), dropped 90 per cent from 2008. Additionally, during the year Bridgestone recognised as an extraordinary loss 10.6 billion yen (₤74.5 million) in costs linked to its plant closures in Oceania.

19th February 2010/by Tyrepress Editors