Sailun Group has announced plans to set up a factory in Indonesia capable of producing 3 million semi-steel radial tyres, 600,000 all-steel radials and 37,000 tonnes of OTR tyres annually. The company intends to invest US$251.44 million in the project, including $204.29 million to build the plant in Demak, Central Java.
Maxam Tire has added VF sizes to its AgilXtra I3 range of agricultural implement flotation tyres. Commenting on the new VF560/60 R22.5 and VF600/55 R26.5 tyres, Greg Gilland, the tyre maker’s VP of global agriculture, says their introduction represents “another symbol of Maxam’s commitment to delivering business solutions to the global agricultural market and for the future of the industry.”
China’s state broadcaster CCTV presented the fourth annual China Automotive Festival on 28 January. The event at Beijing National Stadium included an awards ceremony honouring the best from domestic and international manufacturers, and amongst the recipients was Sailun Group, which won the Jury’s Choice Award for its EcoPoint3 technology. Mrs Liu Yanhua, chairwoman of Sailun Group, accepted the award on behalf of the tyre maker.
Membership in the Justice League? Not quite, or not yet – but Sailun Group has joined several organisations and initiatives dedicated to doing good in recent times. The company confirms that it is now a member of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). It also recently became the first Chinese tyre maker to join the United Nations Global Compact.
Driven by recovery within the domestic tyre market and the declining impact of destocking measures internationally in the second half of the year, Sailun Group expects to achieve a net profit of RMB 3.1 billion (£341.1 million) for 2023. This figure represents a year-on-year increase of some 132.77 per cent. Improving capacity utilisation rate pushed production and sales volumes within the company’s consumer, commercial and specialty tyre segments to “record highs,” with the gross profit margin of these products “substantially” increasing year-on-year.
Following on from an October 2023 announcement that it will extend annual passenger and light commercial vehicle tyre capacity in Cambodia by 6 million pieces, Sailun Group has approved additional investment in its plant. It will invest a further RMB 773.69 million (£85.05 million) to expand the capacity expansion project from 6 million to 12 million tyres a year. In total, Sailun is investing RMB 2.25 billion (£247.33 million) in its Cart Tire Co. Ltd. project, which will result in a facility capable of making 21 million semi-steel radial tyres a year.
With additions made during the third phase of Sailun Group’s Vietnam factory project now operational, the plant has started manufacturing rubber tracks. Members of the Sailun management team recently invited partners and plant employees to a ceremony celebrating the inauguration of track production.
Sailun Group has confirmed plans to build a joint venture factory in Mexico. In a statement, Sailun Tire Americas describes the decision to establish the plant as a “strategic move” aimed at enhancing Sailun’s production capabilities and streamlining the supply chain to provide customers with “even better service and more efficient delivery of our products.” It further calls this “strategic expansion” a “significant milestone in the company’s commitment to innovation, efficiency, and global growth.”
Sailun Group is partnering to build a new factory in Mexico. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Sailun International Holding (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., the Chinese firm signed a joint venture agreement with TD International Holding and Sapide CV (TD Mexico) on 15 December. The partners will build a facility capable of producing 6 million semi-steel radial tyres annually and are also considering the future establishment of capacity to produce 1.65 million all-steel radials a year.
Following the production of the first giant tyre in its plant in Vietnam on 18 November, Sailun Group says its factories outside China are now equipped to manufacture a full range of PCR, TBR and OTR products.
Anyone who struggles to remember names won’t only dread pre-dinner drinks and small talk, they’ll also have a tough time keeping abreast with the agricultural tyre market. Recent years have seen brands appear and reappear in all segments, presenting no small challenge to anyone struggling to keep tabs on who is doing what. But a name worth committing to memory is Maxam. We caught up with the latest from the Maxam Tire team at Agritechnica this week.
Nokian Tyres has unveiled a new all-season tyre for European markets and launch images of the Seasonproof 1 don’t only provide a view of what the tyre looks like – the DOT code on the sidewall tells us where Nokian Tyres Seasonproof 1 is made, and who the manufacturer is. What we can see from the 205/55 R16 and 235/60 R18 tyres in publicity photos is that both were produced by Sailun Group in Qingdao, China.
Blackcircles.com is now offering the Roadstone and Dynamo brands. The online retailer describes both as budget tyre brands that “offer great value for money” by giving customers “a cheaper alternative when working within a pricing budget.
Together with local distribution partner Bohnenkamp, Sailun Group has become tyre partner of German football club VfL Osnabrück, which currently plays in the second division 2. Bundesliga. Sailun has come on board as a premium partner, while Bohnenkamp and the Maxam brand serve as team partners. This joint arrangement will initially run for three years.
Sailun Group Europe has introduced several new tyres featuring its EcoPoint3 liquid-phase mixing technology. One of these products is the Sailun Atrezzo ZSR2, a tyre hailed by its manufacturer as the “ultimate combination of sustainability and performance.” Atrezzo ZSR2 is available in sizes for 17- to 20-inch rims, 205 – 275mm tyre widths, 30 – 55 cross sections and speed ratings W and Y.
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