Retreading
Bridgestone UK has invested £400,000 in a twin head Alpha builder. According to the company, the purchase has been made following Bridgestone’s “rapid growth” within the UK retread market. Terry Salter, retread development manager, commented: “This is a part of a long term investment strategy designed to enhance capacity and quality.”
There are price increases and there are price increases. Anyone who has observed the tyre market for long enough will be aware that what it says in the book and what customers pay are often two different things. Firstly when someone like a bank says “price increases” they are referring to the proportion the price the vendor receives for their tyres increases relative to its prior level. And secondly due to the volatility of raw material commodity markets and other associated input costs any predictions are libel to change and even cancel each other out. Sound like teaching grandma to suck eggs? Perhaps, but the latest round of price increases issued by swathes of tyre producers highlight these principles in spades. Higher prices do not necessarily mean higher costs to buyers on the one hand and, if they do, this does not automatically mean more profitability for those issuing the prices increases.
Galgo Pre-Q was recently honoured with the “National Export Award of Mexico 2009-2010” (Premio Nacional de Exportacion). According to the company, Galgo was the only company of its type to have received this prize “making us best-in-class in what we do.”
Since its foundation in 1952 Galgo Pre-Q has aimed to combine modern rubber manufacturing and laboratory equipment with a total quality management system. In 1999, Galgo Pre-Q systems received ISO 9001 certification recognized by ANSI RAB (U.S.A) and DAR (Germany). But last year this was re-certified at ISO 9001 version 2008. Company representatives say the certification assures clients that the company uses high quality processes and keeps a continuous improvement programme. They also point out that part of Galgo Pre-Q’s process SAP R/3 integrated computer systems provide “timely and accurate information upon which to make operational decisions.”
Vipal has announced that the company will launch a new range of fuel saving retreading products at Reifen, 2010. The new treads, named ECO reportedly form part of Vipal’s Transport Sustainability Project. According to the company, these are products that go “far beyond the savings from retreading: they also contribute for the environment and for the success of the transport activity.”
After fuel tyres represent the second highest product cost for the transport sector. “This is why we heavily invest in technology in order to produce treads that can help to reduce operational costs besides offering quality and safety. Furthermore, we have most recently achieved another pioneering landmark: we developed the first fuel-saving tread lines”, highlights João Carlos Paludo, CEO of Vipal.
OTR tyre retreading specialists Rösler have reported that the company’s recent exhibit at Expomin, (12 – 16 April, Santiago, Chile) was “a full success.” Expomin, which is known as one of the leading mining shows in the world, expects to announce record numbers of visitors this year, which in Rösler’s case means “contacts from all around the world and promising business opportunities.” Rösler gave its 40.00R57 Schelkmann retread, brought all the way from Germany, centre stage at the show. The huge tyre was said to have attracted a significant amount of attention.
Costa Rican tyre retreading company Tire Depot has joined the Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB). According to the association, Tire Depot is part of the Fanast organization and is opening a new modern retread factory in Costa Rica. TRIB reports that it was “instrumental in helping them source machinery and equipment for their new facility.”
Brazilian company Vipal, best known for its tyre retreading and repair materials, and Argentine tyremaker Fate have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Rio Grande do Sul State of Southern Brazil to set up a new tyre factory. The first bi-national industrial collaboration in the state, the Vipal/Fate project sees the companies invest around US$200 million in building a “farm equipment” and “aftermarket car parts” tyre plant. There has been no official confirmation of what brand the new tyres will be produced under, but Tyres & Accessories understands that this means production will focus on passenger car and van tyres.
The tyre maker giveth, the tyre maker taketh away….On April 14, Michelin North America announced it will add retreading operations to its aircraft tyre factory in Norwood, North Carolina. The official press release, however, did not mention that the expansion of Norwood operations was taking place parallel to plans to end operations at its existing aircraft tyre retreading facility in Kansas City.
The retreading of aircraft tyres is scheduled to commence at Michelin North America’s Norwood, North Carolina plant during the second half of the year. The addition of a retreading capability to the Norwood site, which currently employs 320 people in the production of new aviation tyres, will cost the company US$11.3 million, and the project will create 74 new jobs over an 18 month period. Hiring for some of the new posts at Norwood will begin in late April, and Michelin anticipates that 50 of the jobs will be filled by the end of 2010.
Kenya’s Business Daily newspaper reports Kingsway Tyres intends to open its own retreading factory by May 2010. The facility is anticipated to produce 1,000 truck and bus retreads per month, giving it’s the largest capacity of any retreading plant in the country. The tyre importer currently controls 25 per cent of the local market, the Business Daily comments. “With the new retread factory, we are planning to increase the market share to 35 per cent in the next five years,” stated Kingsway managing director Manoj Shah. The company has invested Sh50 million (£404,000) in the new factory.” Shah added that in the new plant Kinsgway is “introducing a new technology that could prolong the mileage span of a retread to almost 90 per cent."
The largest retreader in Israel, Tyre Retreading Company, Ltd has joined US-based international retreading association Tire Retread & Repair Information Bureau (TRIB). According to a TRIB press release, Tyre Retreading Company has a reputation for producing “the highest quality retreads in a variety of sizes.”
Military aircraft operators could soon benefit from new foreign object damage (FOD) resistance tyre technology that has been developed by Dunlop Aircraft Tyres and being employed for the first time on the new Airbus Military A400M. The tyres feature the superior sidewall FOD resistance of bias tyres, which are more suited to operations from semi and unprepared airstrips, as well as what Dunlop Aircraft Tyres describes as “advanced materials”, which are designed to give improved protection in the tread area.
Marangoni Retreading Systems reports that it is a strong position to capitalise on the initial recovery of the Russian truck market. The company reports that reliable estimates on the retreaded truck tyre sector, in the absence of official figures, show a market volume of around 150-200,000 tyres, half of which are retreaded locally and the other half imported, mainly from central and western Europe.
Marangoni Retreading Systems, which has been operating in the Russian market for over a decade, has made significant investments in developing important local retreaders, apparently achieving good results quickly.
“Think Wide” is the slogan Kraiburg Austria has adopted for its exhibit at the forthcoming Essen Show (1 to 4 June). The retreading materials maker reports that it will be presenting “an innovative process for premium pre-cured retreads.” The new technology, which is said to be innovative both in terms of the material and the method, eliminates one of the major restrictions in the pre-cured retreading process. And what’s more, according to the company, the new process “propels the finished product into the performance class of the premium hot cured retreads,” that have been growing in influence in the marketplace in recent years. Representatives of Kraiburg’s specialist earthmover/OTR division will also be hand at the company’s trade fair stand (109 in the GALERIA area), and staff will generally be on hand to offer advice for complete systems and designs.
Marangoni SpA has signalled its intention to raise its selling prices in the second quarter of 2010. According to the company, the increase will affect all tyre retreading materials, marketed through the Retreading Systems division and all the retreads marketed by the Commercial & Industrial Tyres division. Further increases in the list prices of tyres for fork lift trucks are also possible. The latest news, which follows a similar announcement at the beginning of February, is attributed to the “continuous rise in the costs of raw materials.”
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