rubber Archives - Page 326 of 347 - Tyrepress

Tyres can’t function without this critical raw material. Whether its natural or synthetic rubber you are interested in, articles bearing this tag feature this indispensable polymer.

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Cooper Vice President To Retire

Mark Armstrong is to retire in May as Vice President of the Cooper Tire and Rubber Co., after 26 years’ service. Chairman, President and CEO Tom Dattilo described his contributions as “crucial” to the development and implementation of the company’s strategy and in providing direction for the company. Armstrong joined Cooper as a Territory Manager and held various sales and marketing positions until his appointment as Vice President, responsible for global sales and marketing.

14th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

11th Director For Goodyear

Shirley D. Peterson (62) has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. She is the 11th member of the board, 10 of whom are independent. Peterson spent 20 years as an attorney then, in 1989, was appointed Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division at the U.S. Department of Justice. In 1992 she was appointed Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service by President George Bush. In 1995, Peterson was named president of Hood College in Frederick, Maryland. Goodyear’s chairman and CEO Robert Keegan praised Peterson’s record in business, government and academia, saying: “She will make important contributions to our board.”

14th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Firestone Pulls Through

An article in the Detroit News holds up Firestone as a prime example of the “never say die” school. At the time of the tyre recall, the Firestone brand was considered by many to be dead in the water, but the company’s latest research shows that there’s life in the old dog yet. First quarter replacement market sales are up 15 per cent for passenger car and 28 per cent for light trucks against 1Q 2003 figures. Market share has stabilised at 7.2 per cent, which is lower than the 1999 figure of 10.2 per cent, and the company says it is gaining consumer sales. As an indication of this new sense of optimism, the advertising budget has been quadrupled to $18 million and the first brand campaign in four years – including TV slots – is running. The adverts feature Firestone’s memorable “where the rubber meets the road” slogan (last used in 1988) and include an appearance by the famous racer Mario Andretti.

13th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Indian manufacturers hike prices

Due to rising natural rubber prices in international markets, tyre makers across India are planning to increase prices in replacement markets. Prices are expected to go up by around 3-5 per cent by April-end. “We have already hiked our prices almost four times in the past 12 months. And the input costs have shown no signs of softening,” says Sunam Sarkar, director of Apollo Tyres. Prices of rubber alone have seen a 30 per cent jump year-on-year.

6th April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Keegan joins SRI board

Robert J. Keegan, chairman and chief executive officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, has been elected to the board of directors of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. in Kobe, Japan. Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries have six joint venture businesses in North America, Europe and Japan. In addition, each company holds common stock in the other.

1st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Charles Lawrence gets cleaner steel from tyres

Nottinghamshire-based Charles Lawrence International processes around 18,000 tonnes of commercial vehicle tyres a year at its £1.5 million granulating plant and has developed machinery to improve the recovery of steel from tyres. Over 72,000 tonnes of tyres recycled each year in the UK, creating 21,000 tonnes of a valuable high-grade steel fibre with a low copper content. But because the steel is contaminated by residual rubber from the granulating process, it is rejected by steel processing plants and has to be landfilled. Charles Lawrence International’s new process claims to recover cleaner steel which can be recycled by steel processors.

1st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear achieves further quality certification

IBS America, Inc., one of the world’s leading suppliers of Internet-based software and services for quality and compliance management, has announced that the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company’s East Europe, Africa and Middle East business unit has gained full regional certification for quality, safety and environmental standards using its QSi System. The global standards organisation Bureau Veritas Quality International (BVQi) issued the multi-site certification for Goodyear EEAME’s regional headquarters in Brussels and six manufacturing facilities located in Turkey, Slovenia, Poland, Morocco and South Africa. Each of these locations is fully compliant with critical business standards including ISO/TS 16949:2002, ISO 14001 & OHSAS 18001, Adapazari (Turkey), South Africa, Poland and Slovenia. ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, Izmit (Turkey) and Morocco.

1st April 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear develops new synthetic rubbers

Goodyear says it has developed new synthetic rubber products, which could cut its current spend on natural rubber by 15 per cent over the next three years. The company has been working on the project for some time, but extra impetus was provided by the recent steep rises in natural rubber prices. The new products are already being utilised in production.

31st March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental to bid for Phoenix

Continental is to bid for Phoenix, the German manufacturer of automotive-related rubber products. Phoenix is based in Hamburg, has 10,000 employees and sales last year were 1.153 billion euro. Key products, accounting for around half of sales, are fluid handling hoses, conveyor belts and air springs. Industry experts estimate that the acquisition will cost 227 million euro. Net debt stands at 277 million euro.

31st March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear fined by OSHA

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been fined 274,050 dollars for unsafe conditions at its Akron powerhouse after an employee was buried in coal up to his neck while cleaning a coal bunker in September. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said on Tuesday that it had issued six serious and four wilful citations to Goodyear for violating worker-safety procedures. A Goodyear official said the company has taken steps to improve worker training to avoid accidents. The company has also made unspecified physical changes to the powerhouse.

26th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Outplaced Goodyear workers out of work

Some 100 white-collar workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. whose jobs were outplaced to a sub contractor may not have their jobs much longer. Some will be out of work as soon as April 30, and others will follow them until most are gone by 2006. The workers at the sub contractor, Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas (ACS), were told they would keep their same pay, vacation, years of service and other benefits. Last month, Goodyear announced it was transferring 100 jobs in Akron to ACS under a 10-year agreement. Goodyear said it expected the move to save it 45 million dollars.

26th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper wants to sell auto group

Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is reported to want to sell off its automotive group. The automotive parts division accounted for almost half of last years sales. Cooper-Standard Automotive, based in Michigan, had revenues of about 1.66 billion US dollars in 2003. Cooper said it could use money gained from selling the auto unit to reduce debt or invest in tyre operations. Chairman Thomas Dattilo said the company may be better off concentrating on its tyre business and expanding overseas.

25th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Japanese tyre makers boost Chinese output

Chinese media reports that Japanese tyre makers are poised to boost their production capacities in China. Bridgestone Corp. plans to launch a new plant in the eastern city of Wuxi in September and will also triple the monthly output capacity of an existing plant for truck and bus tyres in Shenyang, to 90,000 units. The moves will cost Bridgestone a total of around 20 billion yen (100 million pounds). Yokohama Rubber Co. is due to double the annual production capacity of its passenger car tyre plant in Hangzhou, to 1.4 million units. Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. will launch production in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, in April. Demand for passenger vehicle tyres in China grew to around 60 million units in 2003 and is expected to show an annual rise of 20 per cent in the future, demand for truck and bus tires, 80 million units last year, is forecast to grow even faster at over 40 per cent.

25th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Goodyear Delays Business Report’s Release

Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. on Tuesday again said it needed more time to finish a financial report for federal regulators because of its probe of accounting problems at overseas operations. The company said after the markets closed that it would tell the Securities and Exchange Commission that its annual 10-K report will be delayed because of the investigation of accounting problems in Europe and elsewhere. Goodyear shares plunged more than 5.6 percent, or 44 cents, in extended trading Tuesday, after closing at 7.84 dollars, up 26 cents, on the New York Stock Exchange. However, after-hours trade climbed on the news of the delay, rising 3.5 per cent to 8.12 dollars on INET.

17th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors

Cooper Tire to Launch Avon Tyres in the U.S. & Canada

Cooper Tire & Rubber Company plans to launch AVON Tyres USA, a new collection of performance passenger, light truck, sport truck and motorsport tyres. Completely new to the U.S. and Canadian markets, the AVON Tyres USA line is the first ever to have been designed and engineered from consumer feedback data. All data was collected and analyzed by The Tire Rack, the country’s largest independent tyre tester, through its web site, www.tirerack.com.

17th March 2004/by Tyrepress Editors