Continental AG subsidiary ContiTech has taken over Serbian manufacturer of mining operation conveyor belts, Univerzal Kolubara. According to ContiTech, the group paid less than ten million euros for the company, which has 250 employees. Investment at the Univerzal Kolubara site is planned in order to take advantage of anticipated growth in the mining of brown coal in Serbia.
According to the Beta News Agency, production at one of the three tyre factories belonging to Serbian manufacturer Trayal Corporation will recommence during the week of February 23 to 27, following a three-month pause. The company’s Dedina passenger car tyre factory is the first to resume activity since work stopped at the Trayal plants in mid-November 2008. To begin with, the factory will produce 4,200 tyres per day, significantly lower than the target of 10,000 passenger car tyres per day (by the end of 2009) set when investment into capacity expansion was announced in February 2008.
Serbia’s Tanjug news agency reports that Michelin intends to open a logistics centre within the country. Michelin Group managing partner Michel Rollier met with Serbian deputy Prime Minister Bozidar Djelic during the Davos economic forum, says Tanjug, and plans were made for to establish such a facility before the middle of 2010.
Also on the agenda was production capacity: “We discussed the possibility of increasing production from six million tyres a year, the current output of Tigar–Michelin Company and we will keep working on that,” added Djelic.
Industrial, OTR and specialty tyre manufacturer GPX International Tire Corporation reports it has reached an agreement with CGS of the Czech Republic for the sale of GPX’s Rumaguma tyre manufacturing facility in Serbia. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of September 2008 pending approval by the Serbian anti-trust authorities.
CGS is one of Europe’s largest agricultural tyre producers and manufactures these products under the Continental and Semperit brand names. Rumaguma has been producing tyres for CGS for many years and is currently the facility’s largest customer. As a result, CGS is well acquainted with the factory and the quality of the product produced at Rumaguma.
Following the announced acquisition of the Rumaguma tyre manufacturing facility in Serbia formerly owned by GPX International, the CGS Group has disclosed it intends in time to use the facility as a basis for the further development of the company’s European radial capacities. The Czech Republic based manufacturer will integrate the Rumaguma plant industrial and agricultural tyre plant into its tyre division operated by MITAS a.s. The acquisition is, says CGS, part of the group’s strategy of focusing upon the agricultural and industrial tyres business, and will further support its second position in the European agricultural tyres segment.
Solideal International has released a new line of rubber tracks under the Raptor brand name. Raptor rubber tracks have been developed in 33 different sizes to fit the most popular mini excavator machines and are reportedly intended to offer “good value for money for price sensitive customers.” Raptor brand will be available in North America as well as in many European countries including: the Baltics, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden, UK, Romania and Serbia. Solideal has been manufacturing premium rubber tracks since 1991. The group employs over 9000 people in 20 countries.
Serbia banned used tyre imports on 1 February, apparently due to “environmental concerns,” Environmental Protection Ministry officials stated. Online news reports quote tyre producers as saying that they would ask for licences to continue to import used tyres, because they are needed as a basis for making their own products. According to the reports, tyre imports have steadily decreased over the years and the minimal amount used for production purposes is disposed of according to all ecological standards.
According to a report printed in French newspaper Les Echos, Michelin will gradually increase its share in Serbia’s Tigar Tyres from 64 per cent to 94 per cent. This enlarged stake will come through a 32.5 million euro investment in the manufacturer, who is currently part owned by the state of Serbia.
Bridgestone is currently selling 25,000 tyres annually in the Serbian and Montenegrin markets, local news sources have reported. This figure was revealed by the company’s country manager for Serbia Goran Kočovski, who added that the sales of truck and passenger vehicle tyres were at equal levels. According to one local newspaper, Bridgestone holds a 10 per cent share of Serbia’s truck tyre market, and plans to double the sales in five years’ time. The company is reportedly aiming to increase passenger car sales 20 to 30 per cent a year in the area.
Tigar, based in the Serbian town of Pirot, has a domestic market share of about 52 per cent. This strong foothold on the local market is at least partly due to technological support and know-how supplied by Michelin. At the same time the privately owned company sells a significant proportion of its annual production (3.2 million tyres) abroad. In particular France and the UK are important export markets for Tigar. Currently there are certain restructuring measures taking place in the company, which could also affect the future of the Tigar brand in the Michelin Corporation as well as the future of the factory itself.
Serbia’s second largest tyre manufacturer, Trayal Corp., is soon to be sold and therefore privatised. According to reports, the privatisation agency in Serbia has announced a public tender to bid for the traditional state-owned company. The Bulgarian power supplier Brikel EAD has now made the highest offer and will soon start to negotiate the details of the deal with the agency, local media sources wrote. The bid was £8.2 million for a majority share plus modernisation investments of up to £16.9 million.
For Sri Lankan tyre manufacturer Solideal, 2006 is proving to be an important year for its growth in the UK. After two record sales years the company has invested in a new warehouse facility in the heart of the UK. Located in Stafford, the 57,000 square foot facility is perfectly positioned to meet the distribution demands of its customers.
Following GPX International’s recent acquisition of the Hebei Starbright tyre factory in China, Tyres & Accessories has learnt that GPX plans to refurbish and modernize the site and expand the range of products produced in the factory. The company is to introduce a full range of bias and radial agricultural tyres, including both 85 series and 70 series radial rear tractor fitments. In addition GPX representatives say the company will install a solid tyre workshop using the technology obtained in its acquisition of US-company, Maine Industrial Tire Limited (MITL).
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