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Dunlop Tyres International – ‘Investigation Good for Consumers’

CEO of South Africa’s Dunlop Tyres International, Dr Luis Ceneviz, has responded positively to the actions carried out by the country’s Competition Commission to ensure anti-competitive behaviour is regulated. A statement from Dr Ceneviz was released after police and investigators from the commission raided Dunlop Tyres International’s head office in the city of Durban on April 4.

“During the raid, Dunlop remained fully co-operative and complied with any request made by investigators for any hard copy or electronic documentation,” said Cenevis. “At this point we are not able to give any further comment on the issue and have instructed our attorneys, who will be dealing with the matter.

11th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Investigation Focusing on Tyre Price Fixing in South Africa

International News

On April 9 South Africa’s Competition Commission announced it had searched the offices of Dunlop Tyres International and Bridgestone South Africa to collect evidence of tyre industry price fixing in the South African market. Also searched were the offices of tyre industry association the SA Tyre Manufacturers Conference. News of this action was reported by Reuters the following day.

“We can confirm that the raid took place. We will cooperate fully with the commission,” commented Bridgestone spokesman Romano Daniels to Reuters. “We are not concerned about the investigation. We don’t believe we conducted ourselves in an untoward way.” Dunlop has yet to comment on the day’s events.

10th April 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Yokohama Wins Right to Block Counterfeit Tyre Sales in Japan

Yokohama Rubber has won the right to prevent a particular tyre bearing more than a passing resemblance to its DNA S.drive high performance tyre from being sold in Japan. On January 18 the Tokyo Customs Office accepted Yokohama’s application for an import injunction against the counterfeit tyres on the basis that these products infringed Yokohama Rubber’s design rights. As a result, all customs offices in Japan will henceforth prohibit the import of any such product.

27th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Conti Discusses South Africa Power Saving Programme

At its South African operations Continental Tyre SA has, over the course of three years, introduced a range of schemes that have seen power consumption reduced by 10 per cent. The company recently shared details of its activities in this area.

“To save electricity, we have a production monitoring system in the plant to monitor the energy systems and electricity use so that we can see peak demand, steam consumption and air pressures, for example,” commented plant engineering manager Andrew Singer. “We also have a project to improve the monitoring of incoming voltage, frequency and power usage so that we are consistently aware of the power we are using and its quality.”

22nd February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Uniwheels to Purchase European ATS Alloy Wheel Operations

Swiss based alloy wheel manufacturer Uniwheels has announced it intends to purchase the European interests of Germany’s ATS Group. The acquisition will include the three ATS facilities in Germany, along with the company’s Polish subsidiary, which operates two factories. A separate solution for the company’s US subsidiary, ATS Light Alloy Wheels (Alabama), Inc. will be announced next week.

22nd February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Tyrexpo Africa Exhibitor Numbers Up 8% for 2008 Show

It is now less than a month before Tyrexpo Africa 2008 gets underway in Johannesburg, and recent figures tell of an even healthier show than the debut exhibition in 2006. Exhibition floor space at the Sandton Convention Centre has increased by 10 per cent for this year’s event, and exhibitor numbers are up 8 per cent. These exhibitors are reported to be coming from 20 different countries, with 37 Chinese companies and 13 from India signed up. Home market companies will dominate the show, however, with firms from South Africa representing 38 per cent of all exhibitors.

The influence of Chinese and Indian tyre manufacturers on the South African market for OTR tyres is tipped to balloon this year, and these companies will have a highly visible presence at Tyrexpo Africa 2008. Show organiser, ECI International, believes that China and India’s strong participation in the exhibition signals an aggressive drive to achieve greater market share in the lucrative African mining sector.

18th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

MMH Supplying Eldan Equipment at Home and Abroad

West Sussex based marketer and distributor of recycling equipment, MMH Recycling Systems, reports it is continuing to supply top quality equipment for the tyre recycling industry through its partnership with Danish manufacturer Eldan Recycling A/S. During 2007 MMH supplied new equipment to four recycling facilities, and in the coming few months several more plants, currently under production, will be delivered to UK customers.

The company provides a complete service to its customers, which can include designing, building and commissioning everything from a single machine to a complete, highly automated, tyre recycling plant. Equipment supplied by MMH Recycling Systems and used by many successful tyre recyclers employs a simple, reliable and cost effective method of shredding & granulating tyres and separating the resultant rubber, steel and fibres.

7th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Leader Tread – More than Just Retreads

The success of South Africa’s Leader Tread is a testament to the determination of its joint-managing directors, Mark and Brett Sproson. Despite an uncertain political climate in Africa and changing market demands in the UK seriously threatening the business’s wellbeing on at least two occasions, the pair persisted developing Leader Tread, and today the company has grown from being simply a regional supplier to one with footholds in retreading facilities around the major South African cities of Durban, Cape Town, Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

6th February 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Sameer’s Yana Tyres Struggling to Take Off

International News

Sameer Africa recently raised its tyre prices by between four and six per cent, the Nairobi Nation reports. However, price increases are unlikely to help sales of the manufacturer’s Yana brand. Local news reports that stiff competition from cheap imports, especially from the Korea, Egypt and South Africa have left the company at a disadvantage, following the price increase. “Kenya has no competitive advantage, and you can get any tyre you want from China at any price,” managing director Eric Kimani told journalists.

The influx of imported tyres from these destinations reportedly increased significantly in 2005, following the introduction of the East African Community’s (EAC) Common External Tariff (CET). Under the CET, the EAC member states (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) agreed to a common tax rate of 10 per cent on imports of new rubber tyres for buses and lorries. Initially, the import duty on tyres stood at between 25 and 35 per cent as a way of protecting local manufacturers.

31st January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Announces Results, Projects

Gurgaon, India, January 15, 2008: The board of directors of Apollo Tyres Ltd, on January 15 announced the company’s unaudited results for the third quarter of the financial year 2007-08. The board also approved investments of Rs 3.6 billion (£46.8 million) for various green and brown field projects to be implemented in India.

Net sales for the companies India & overseas operations closed at Rs 12.4 billion (£161.1 million) up 14 per cent £140.3 million) from Rs 10.8 billion. Operating profit rose by 60 per cent, and net profit, at Rs 820 million (£10.7 million), increased by 165 per cent.

Commenting on the results, Onkar S Kanwar, Apollo chairman & managing director, said: “This is the kind of steady growth that we are looking to maintain in India, South Africa or any other market that we work in, in the near future. Our strength in manufacturing and people are assets, and Indian companies need to leverage these to ensure that we build Brand India as a quality manufacturer of products and services.”

15th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo Appoints Satish Agarwal as Chief of Manufacturing

Apollo Tyres Ltd has named Satish Agarwal as chief of manufacturing. Mr Agarwal joined the company in November 2000 as Unit Head for Apollo Tyres’ flagship manufacturing facility in Limda, Gujarat. According to the company, he has “transformed” this facility into India’s largest tyre manufacturing plant, during the past seven years. As a result, Apollo representatives describe the plant as having “one of the best manufacturing efficiencies in the industry.” In his new role Mr Satish Agarwal, will be based at the company’s headquarters in Gurgaon, outside New Delhi city. He will be responsible for all manufacturing operations and functions, including Quality, Corporate Engineering and Cost Optimisation, across plants in India, South Africa, Zimbabwe and other future facilities. He will be reporting directly to Mr Neeraj Kanwar, Joint MD and COO, Apollo Tyres Ltd.

11th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Shandong Taishan to Release 57-inch Size

Shandong Taishan Tyre Co., Ltd. Has published details of five new OTR tyre sizes the company plans to launch in April. At the beginning of the second quarter, the manufacturer will launch giant OTR products in enormous 2700 R49, 4000 R57, 3300 R51, 45/65 R45 35/65 R33 sizes. Company representatives told Tyres & Accessories that the company focuses on building long term partnerships, especially in the OTR segment. As a result Shandong Taishan now hasstable cooperative relations with the clients from Canada, South Africa, Mexico, Greece and Australia.

4th January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Al Dobowi Deepens its roots in Africa

The Al Dobowi Group has decided to increase its presence in Africa by opening offices, warehouses and service centres in Ethiopia to cover the Ethiopian, Djiboutian and Somalian markets. It will distribute tyres and batteries and will also have an OTR repair facility with Rema Tip Top. In addition it will also supply Gates Fleximak hoses and manufacture Serck Radiators. According to the company, these developments will also provide Al-Dobowi’s European partners that do not have a local African presence with more avenues to increase their business in some of the fastest growing markets in the world.

2nd January 2008/by Tyrepress Editors

Apollo to Buy ‘Overseas Tyre Maker’

Apollo Tyres Ltd is close to acquiring a south east Asian tyre maker, according to CNBC reports. Reuters reported that the acquisition is expected to be completed early next year. No details have been given about which firm will be bought or the value of the deal. “We cannot comment on speculation that is not attributed to anyone. We have said we will continously keep looking at opportunities and there is no change in our stance,” Sunam Sarkar, chief of corporate strategy and marketing at Apollo Tyres, told Reuters. In early 2006 Apollo bought Dunlop South Africa for about 2.9 billion rupees.

21st December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors

Continental South Africa Wins Green Award

South Africa’s Institute of Waste Management, in conjunction with the provincial economic development and environmental affairs department, has given Continental Tyre SA the inaugural Eastern Cape Clean Industry Award for the manufacturing sector. The award particularly recognised the company‘s “transparent and traceable environmental management system”. In reaction to the announcement, Continental SA managing director Claudio Boezio said: “It‘s great to be recognised for our efforts with this award, and it‘s even better to know our efforts are reducing the harm our planet endures on a daily basis.

17th December 2007/by Tyrepress Editors