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Cooper Tire International Ops Up 29% in Record 4Q Results

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company has reported net income of $51 million for the fourth quarter of 2007, ended 31 December. Income from continuing operations increased $67 million from a loss of $28 million for the same period last year. The substantial earnings improvement was accompanied by a new record of $765 million in sales for the quarter, a 7 per cent increase over the same period last year. During the quarter, the Company reported a $26.5 million gain on the sale of the operations of the Oliver Rubber Company and explained that it received net cash proceeds of $66 million.

The Company’s International Tire Operations reported sales of $228 million in the quarter, an increase of 29 per cent compared with the fourth quarter of 2006. The segment’s operating profit improved by $8.6 million to $3.8 million from a fourth quarter loss of $4.8 million the previous year. This increase was said to have been driven by higher unit volumes and pricing. For the total year, operating profit for the segment improved to $29 million, a $19 million increase over the same period last year.

29th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Amtel Mortgages Retain Chain for Materials – Report

Reports out of Moscow say that struggling Amtel-Vredestein is using its retail chain as collateral to obtain tire raw materials from rival Sibur-Russian Tyres.

The feedstock will be directed to A-V’s plant Amtel-Volga. The collateral against the loan, not to exceed $20 million, according to reports, is A-V’s AV-VTO retail store chain, currently valued at $150 million. (Tire Review/Akron)

22nd February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook to Raise Prices 10%

Hankook Tire intends to increase operating profit by 32 per cent this year, a target it will reach through the increased sale of high performance tyres and by raising prices to counter higher raw materials costs. Chief financial officer Cho Hyun Bum told media in Seoul that the company intends to charge 10 per cent more for tyres, a necessary measure if it is to achieve its targeted 2008 profits of 348.5 billion won (£188.7 million). Last year the company made profits of 263.6 billion won (£142.7).

22nd February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Amtel-Vredestein Reports Production Resumed at Kirov Facility

Amtel-Vredestein has responded to recent media speculation over a halt in production at its Amtel-Povolzhye facility, claiming that production resumed at the plant on February 15. The company reports that operations “continue as usual” at the facility, located in the Russian city of Kirov, following a “temporary suspension in the supply of raw materials that led to a disruption in production on 11 February.” This downtime, claims Amtel-Vredestein, was utilised to complete scheduled equipment maintenance and repairs.

21st February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

New Report Values UK Tyre Market at £1.36 Billion

The latest report released by Dublin based company Research and Markets indicates that the UK market for tyres and tubes was worth an estimated £1.36 billion at manufacturers’ selling prices in 2007. This figure represents a 5 per cent increase over the previous year and 15.3 per cent on the market in 2003. Local production continues to decline but is more than compensated by strong exports.

20th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Colwayski

It was back in the early days of 2002 when Gary Oliver and Peter Morris formed the company called C-Tyres and purchased the assets of retreaders Colway and Motorway from the Official Receiver. Since then, the demise of car tyre retreading in the UK has been well documented and, it has to be said, one or two quizzical eyebrows were raised when Oliver and Morris announced that C-Tyres would be making retreads.

At the end of January the Colway brand and equipment owned by County Durham-based C-Tyres was bought by Polish retread company, Mark Gum. No details of how much Mark Gum paid were made available. C-Tyres managing director Gary Oliver had previously spoken of his hope that a British company would take ownership of the assets, allowing tyre production to start up again from within C-Tyres leased premises in Langley Moor.

15th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Hankook Maintains Strong Sales Growth & Profit Margins in 2007

Hankook Tire’s claim to be one of the world’s fastest growing tyre manufacturers was given a boost today by the release of its 2007 results. The South Korean company posted global sales of KRW 3.2 trillion (£1.77 billion) in 2007, an 11.8 per cent year-on year increase. Profit margin dropped slightly to 8.1 per cent while consolidated operating profit increased 5.1 per cent to KRW 263.6 billion (£144 million). While this latest profit margin is down 0.6 per cent on that recorded in 2006, Hankook defends the still respectable figure by pointing out that the previous year’s – and the current – margin was the highest amongst all major tyre manufacturers, last year’s outstripping the nearest competitor by two points.

Other milestones of note for the company include European sales – in the fourth quarter these increased by 9 per cent on the previous year – along with year-on year UHP tyre sales across all global markets; these increased 10.5 per cent. Hankook’s CEO believes his company’s efforts to build upon both product and brand quality has been instrumental in all such positive results.

11th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Spring Price Hike For Toyo Tire USA

Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. has announced that it will increase pricing on consumer and commercial products up to six per cent. The new prices are effective from March 1, 2008.

“Due to continued escalating increases in raw materials, energy, and transportation costs we must increase our prices on consumer and commercial tires,” said Steve Weinger, senior vice president, sales & marketing, Toyo Tire U.S.A. Corp. “We wish to thank our dealers for their continued support and assure them Toyo remains dedicated to providing the highest level of product quality and customer service.”

5th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

US OTR Tyre Manufacturer Unveils Ambitious Expansion Plans

Manufacturer of OTR tyres for the mining, construction and port handling industries, American Tire Corporation (ATC), has finalised the development plans for its new factory. It intends to place a total investment of US$500 million into the Washington based facility, a 130 acre site housing seven manufacturing plants, two warehouses, a distribution centre and a research and training building.

These ambitious plans were announced on February 3 and are intended to aid in the expansion of the company’s US operations and the development of a more “aggressive” growth strategy in the OTR tyre sector. According to a press release published on the PRWeb website, ATC will “build the most advanced tyre-building machines and vulcanising machines on site.” All related equipment, construction and raw materials will reportedly be procured via tender during the first half of this year. ATC is inviting tyre equipment and raw material manufacturers, along with construction companies, to submit offers before March 31.

4th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

TVS Projects 30% Growth, Hints at Future Greenfield Expansion

TVS Tyres expects to maintain a growth rate of 30 per cent in the Indian market, reports the company’s marketing general manager. Mr. M Sivasubramanian told India’s Business Standard newspaper that this projected growth has already been witnessed over the last three years, during which time the company has raised its production capacity from 600,000 to 900,000 tyres. He added that each year TVS Tyres is investing Rs 4 million (£51,800) in research and development.

Sivasubramanian also believes that the introduction of low cost cars, such as Tata’s long-awaited Nano, will not affect the two and three-wheel vehicle specialist’s sales. To the contrary, he commented, TVS project an increase in the demand for two wheeled vehicle tyres, in part due to the growing trend towards replacing tyres at shorter intervals than in previous years.

23rd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin: OE Customers Prepared to Pay Extra for “Green Tyres”

Analysts from the Société Générale report that Michelin representatives have, during a Roadshow event, expressed the opinion that OE manufacturers would be prepared to spend extra for environmentally friendly “green tyres.” The willingness to spend extra for such a product would no doubt be aided by CO2 emission reductions currently on the EU agenda; reductions of 120 to 130 grams per kilometre may in future be required.

Should Michelin’s predictions be correct, it will not only be the environment that benefits; while environmentally friendly tyres currently cost the consumer more to purchase, the manufacture of “green tyres” requires less raw materials, thus lowering production costs.

18th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Lanxess Releases New Tyre Additive

Specialty chemicals group Lanxess has developed a new high-performance rubber additive. Known as Nanoprene, this material additive for tyre tread compound is reported to significantly reduce the rate of wear in a tyre. Lanxess adds that this reduction in wear achieved through the use of this additive does not in any way impact on rolling resistance or wet grip.

“Boosting tyre service life without losing other key tread properties was a major challenge for the rubber industry,” explains Nanoprene developer Professor Werner Obrecht, rubber expert at the Lanxess Technical Rubber Products (TRP) business unit. “Despite all the positive developments of the last 20 years, after travelling around 40,000 kilometres, the tread pattern is normally worn and new tyres are then needed. This is not only annoying for the customer, since the fine rubber particles created by the tyre wear ultimately end up in the environment.”

15th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Michelin to Up Prices in Japanese Market

Michelin is set to raise prices in Japan across a range of products due to the rising cost of raw materials. The price of summer tyres for passenger and light trucks will increase by an average of 5 per cent, while truck and bus summer tyres will increase by an average of 7 per cent, according to a Michelin statement. The changes will take effect on 1 March 2008. The prices for industrial tyres will increase by 8 per cent, with agricultural tyre prices rising 3 per cent.

2nd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Nexen Sets Price Increase

(Tire Review/Akron) Due to increases in raw materials and freight cost, Nexen Tire America said it will increase its prices as of January 1, 2008. Prices on Nexen’s passenger, performance and light truck/SUV tyres will increase by 2 to 7 per cent, depending on the line.

13th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Bridgestone to Increase Prices in all European Markets

Bridgestone Europe has announced price increases for all tyre brands and categories in every European market. Passenger car, 4×4, and light commercial vehicle tyre prices will rise by between three and five per cent, while all other sectors will be subject to increases of between five and ten per cent. These price adjustments are scheduled to be implemented as of February 1, 2008.

12th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors