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Bridgestone Maximising Raw Materials Efficiency

During 2000 and early 2001 the BLIC (Bureau de Liaison des Industries du Caoutchouc), predecessor to the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association, conducted a full Life Cycle Assessment study (LCA) of a representative European 195/65 R15 passenger car tyre, using both carbon black and silica based versions of the H rated summer tyre in the study. Bridgestone, as a member of the Technical Working Group, played an active role in the study.

While, at 84 per cent, the ‘use’ phase of a tyre’s life cycle was identified by the LCA as making the largest contribution to the environmental load of a car tyre, the impact of raw materials, which accounts for 10 per cent, is the second largest factor. Keeping this in mind, Bridgestone Europe comments in its latest Environmental Commitment and Performance report, published November 2008, that the choice of ingredients used is very important, including the promotion of an environmental oriented supply chain.

28th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Materials Prices Strike a Raw Nerve in 2008

Across many industries, including our own, 2008 will be long remembered for its spate of raw material price increases and their knock-on effect. Although these prices had by mid-November retreated from their earlier record highs, across the board they left eroded profits in their wake – and consumers smarting from the increases tyre manufacturers in turn slapped upon their products.

27th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Will the Tyre Market See Price Deflation in 2009?

Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s decision to “act now on tax” and cut VAT from 17.5 to 15 per cent is welcome news to those watching household incomes as the dreaded recession bites. The VAT cut means the average family (according to the Low Tax Alliance) will save £341 a year – about enough for four bread and butter tyres or a pair of premium high-performance products. But, while increasing consumers’ ability to spend is always welcome to the trade, it doesn’t have any bearing on what tyre manufacturers will do with their prices in 2009.

For the last six years there has been a continuing upward trend in tyre pricing, mainly driven by increased fuel and raw material costs. In recent months the rate and volume of price increases has crescendoed. Far Eastern suppliers have increased the prices the most, but it is a trend that can be seen across all segments and markets. However, the ripple effect the global economic slowdown has had on things like OE production looks like it has put paid to these kind of continuing price increases. Lower demand and less competition for raw materials means increasing pressure to put the price hikes in reverse.

24th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Europe Outlines Green Performance in New Brochure

It’s as fresh as the morning dew upon a rainforest fern frond – Bridgestone Europe has published its updated environmental report, which sets out the company’s commitment to high environmental standards and the latest steps it is taking to achieve them. In keeping with its theme, the colour brochure is printed with vegetable-based inks on FSC label recycled paper, and is aimed at all organisations and groups interested in the company, including shareholders, government authorities, journalists, car manufacturers and other business partners.

19th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Freedom from the ‘Black Gold’

By 2013 Sumitomo Rubber plans to be selling tyres containing absolutely no petrochemical materials. This news was printed in the company’s 2008 – 2011 environmental statement, which was published in Japanese only on November 17. It appears likely the oil free tyres will initially be sold on the Japanese market only.

19th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyota iQ to Debut With Bridgestone Ecopia as OE

Bridgestone has announced that its Ecopia EP25 tyres will be supplied as original equipment for Toyota’s ‘iQ’ model, which is scheduled for release in Japan on November 20 and in Europe in early 2009. The iQ will be fitted with the low rolling resistance tyre in 175/65R15 84S size.

In a press statement announcing the OE deal Bridgestone says it believes the company can make a significant contribution to addressing worldwide environmental issues such as global warming through the development of tyres that provide greater reduction in rolling resistance, and thus improve fuel efficiency and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. In calculating carbon dioxide emissions at each stage of the tyre lifecycle, from raw materials to disposal, Bridgestone discovered that 87 per cent of total emissions occur during the usage stage.

17th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

PYReco Facility at Planning Stage

British company PYReco reports its first UK facility to extract raw materials from end of life tyres through pyrolysis is now at the planning stage. The plant, to be located in Teesside, is expected to recover more than a quarter of a million barrels of oil equivalent per annum and 20,000 tonnes of carbon black, along with other materials.

The construction of the new facility comes following a decade of research and development conducted by Metso Minerals, with whom PYReco has been affiliated for the last two years. These tests have been carried out at Metso’s Process Research & Test Center in Pennsylvania, USA, a fully equipped pyrolysis test facility with a scrap tyre feeding capacity of over 100 kg/hr.

17th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Shows Off Latest SR Know-How

The consistent further development of synthetic rubber has resulted in a significant improvement in the overall performance of vehicle tyres. Synthetic rubber manufacturer Lanxess AG highlighted recent progress in this area at the recent 4th Intelligent Tire Technology Congress, held on October 21 and 22 in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Newly developed production processes have paved the way for the use of solution styrene-butadiene rubbers (S-SBR), reports Lanxess. Trials performed at the company’s test laboratories and in customer trials have shown that, with these new tyre tread elastomers, it is possible to simultaneously raise wet grip and rolling resistance – formerly totally contradictory properties – to a completely new level.

17th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Toyo Sales Up, Income Down in Half Year Results

Toyo Tires has released its consolidated business results for the first half of this fiscal year (ending 31 March, 2009). The report shows that the company’s tyre segment had upped its net sales from 120 billion yen in April-September 2007 to 123 billion yen (£841 million; 1 GBP = 146 JPY) this half-year. However, the company’s operating income in the same period dropped to 1.13 billion yen (£7.77 million), 16.2 per cent of the same period in the previous year, which yielded 6.99 billion yen.

Meanwhile, in the second quarter (July-September 2008) net sales fell to 60.4 billion yen (£419 million) from 61.6 billion in Q2 ’07-’08, while the tyre segment produced a Q2 ’08-’09 operating loss of 126 million yen (£875,000).

12th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Pirelli Results Reflect Current World Economy

Pirelli’s released results for the first nine months of 2008 show a company affected by the international crisis. According to the company, during the course of the first nine months of the year the tyre market registered increasing weakness due to a combination of factors. In volume terms, the replacement channel, which determines most of Pirelli’s tyre sales, was affected by a reduction in consumer and industrial segment demand, especially in Western markets. The original equipment channel, says the company, was hurt by the strong contraction of new car sales, especially in Western Europe (10 per cent in the third quarter, 5 per cent in the first nine months compared with 2007) and in North America (15 per cent in the third quarter, 11 per cent in the first nine months compared with 2007).

10th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Reports Q3 Net Loss

Cooper Tire & Rubber has reported a net loss of US$55 million, or 94 cents per share, for the financial quarter that ended September 30, 2008. This result contrasts markedly from the company’s result for the same period in 2007, in which it recorded a net profit of $30.2 million. The company says its results were pressured by unprecedented raw material cost increases, higher utility costs, and production curtailments due to raw material shortages caused by hurricanes in the Gulf Coast region.

10th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyre Product Range Prompts Company Name Change

Although still a relatively new company, British Recycled Plastic has re-branded itself as British Recycled Products, after releasing a product range made from used car tyres. In its six months of operation, the Yorkshire based company has already amassed a client list that includes high profile customers such as the MoD, ASDA and the City of London Corporation. Director Jason Elliot believes the company’s success lies in its UK based production and sourcing of raw materials.

6th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Grass Roots Environmentalism

With raw materials continually rising in cost and supplies becoming stretched further all the time, one more solution to the problem of expensive natural rubber supply may be on the cards. Cooper is partnering The Program of Excellence in Natural Rubber Alternatives (PENRA) to research the possibilities of a new domestic source. At the head of the field of possibilities is the Russian Dandelion, scientifically known as Taraxacum kok-saghyz (TKS). Its roots can be processed into natural rubber, which would serve as the polymer for multiple compound components of a tyre, including the sidewall, base and tread. Russian Dandelions have a similar appearance to more common dandelions but also possess a more complex root system.

“Cooper is extremely excited to participate in this innovative ‘green’ project,” said Chuck Yurkovich, Cooper Tire’s vice president of Global Technology. “This new process involves forward-thinking technology with potential to bring a competitive substitute supply of natural rubber that will be produced in the United States, reducing our dependency on off shore imports. In addition to providing a supply of natural rubber that is critical to a number of industries, it’s also an opportunity for Cooper to remain competitive in the market place with an environmentally friendly product that creates jobs here in the United States.”

6th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone Sustain 40% Hit on Profits

Bridgestone has announced that its net profit fell 40 per cent in the first nine months of 2009, prompted by diminished demand and inflated raw materials costs. Net profits were down to 49.47 billion yen (317 million pounds sterling; 1 GBP = 156 JPY), from 2007’s figure of 82.34 billion yen in the same period.

Revenue for the company increased 1.3 per cent to 2.5 trillion yen (£16 billion), thanks mainly to the Chinese market, which continues to look relatively solid. However, operating profit was down 26.8 per cent to 119.2 billion yen (£761 million) because, Bridgestone comments, of massive fuel cost increases. US sales have dropped 2 per cent in the period, while Japanese sales saw a small rise of 1 per cent.

4th November 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin Revises Full Year Targets

Michelin’s financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2008 show a slight increase in sales during the three month period. However, upon releasing its figures the company also warned that a drop in European and North American demand makes it unlikely that previously set targets will be reached. In July, the Michelin Group based its estimated result of around 8.6 per cent for the full year on the assumption that “second half markets do not worsen beyond estimated levels” forecasted at the time. It now reports the different trends recorded since early October point to a sharper deterioration of demand in most European and North American countries. If this trend is confirmed in November and December, Michelin should post 7 to 7.5 per cent operating margin before non-recurring items for fiscal 2008. The company’s 2007 operating margin stood at 9.8 per cent.

30th October 2008/by Tyrepress Editors