During the Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) Annual Rubber Conference, held in Colombo on 8 October, the secretary to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Plantation Industries stated that the country intends to significantly expand its rubber sector over the coming decade.
Sri Lanka is one of Apollo Tyres’ fastest growing export markets – the company says sales there have increased more than 50 per cent year-on-year since the brand’s introduction into Sri Lanka in June 2011. The Indian tyre maker has now opened its first branded retail outlet within the country.
Michelin has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification for its Tyreplus and Michelin Truck Service Centre (MTSC) networks across India. With this certification, Michelin becomes the largest certified tyre service network in the country; the company presently operates 23 Tyreplus and 13 MTSC outlets within India.
The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) is organising the sixth edition of its Annual Rubber Conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 8th October 2013. The Sri Lankan Government will be hosting the event, in association with the Ministry of Plantation Industries, Colombo, Sri Lanka, at the Galadari Hotel – Colombo.
Sri Lanka’s Laugfs Gas PLC, a manufacturer of the Laugfs range of solid and press-on tyres, reported in a stock exchange filing that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Laugfs Eco Sri (Pvt) Ltd, intends to invest Rs. 150 million (£844,000) in convertible debenture at six per cent per annum in Laugfs Corporation (Rubber) Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of parent company Laugfs Holdings Ltd. The investment is subject to necessary procedures, the filing said.
As of November 2011, former GKN Wheels Carpenedolo sales director Thomas Ruedl will take on the role of group sales director, OEM Key Accounts at Starco. In his new role, Ruedl will report to regional director Jef de Smedt and have overall responsibility for Starco’s existing and future OEM customers. First priority for Ruedl in his new position will be prioritising Starco’s agricultural, industrial and trailers/caravans markets; this will be followed by the horticultural and internal transport markets. The new OEM Key accounts group sales director will work in close liaison with local Starco sales entities, which will also continue their daily contact with global OEM customers as before.
Sri Lanka’s Global Rubber Industries, manufacturer of the Globe Star, Ultimate XT, Peak Master, Performer and Air Ryde brands, has opened its second plant. The US$6 million facility, which has the capacity to produce 400,000 solid industrial and press on band tyres a year, was declared operational on September 8.
Infinity Tyres has announced that it is to sponsor the Lord’s One Day International between England and Sri Lanka in London on 3 July. The game is the third in the five-match ODI series following a crushing victory for England in the first at The Oval and tomorrow’s game (1 July) at Headingley. The brand will have a static publicity panel at the ground.
Smithers Rapra has appointed Rikki Lamba as vice president of North American operations. Prior to Smithers, Dr. Lamba worked for Excel Polymers LLC, a global supplier of custom elastomeric solutions with operations in the US, Mexico, the UK and China. Prior to Excel he was vice president of technology at Columbian Chemicals.
The Marangoni Group presented its forklift range at one of the world’s most important intralogistics exhibitions, CeMAT 2011, at the Hanover Exhibition Centre between 2 and 6 May. Following the recession in the industrial goods handling business in 2009, last year average monthly European production of forklift trucks again exceeded the 20,000 mark. This recovery in Europe has led German forklift truck manufacturers to present a new generation of technologically evolved forklifts, so as to satisfy current and future demands in terms of safety and energy savings. For Marangoni, already an OEM supplier to leading European brands, this has meant the development of a series of tyres that match the technology applied to these new vehicles.
Speaking to India’s Business Standard newspaper, JK Tyre & Industries vice-chairman and managing director Raghupati Singhania has shared that the tyre maker is looking at expanding its international presence by 15 to 20 per cent every year. Currently JK Tyre sells Rs 8 billion (£108.5 million) worth of goods outside of India, some 44 per cent of which is produced at international sites. These overseas facilities include the Tornel plant in Mexico, which the Indian manufacturer acquired in 2008, and partner factories in China, Vietnam and Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka’s Kelani Tyres reports that despite a steep rise in costs its net profits rose 11.7 per cent year-on-year to LKR 74.9 million (£419,000) in the quarter to December 31, 2010. Revenues during the quarter increased 37.1 per cent to LKR 1.028 billion (£5.8 million) while sales volumes grew 5.2 per cent to 3,753 tonnes and production rose 10.6 per cent to 3,826 tonnes.
The consolidation of Trelleborg’s solid industrial tyre capacity in Sri Lanka has taken a further step forward with the opening of the enlarged Trelleborg Wheel Systems plant outside the city of Colombo. The company estimates that approximately 80 per cent of its total global solid industrial tyre production now is now carried out in Sri Lanka, a country it says is a “natural location” for it to consolidate production as it has an “excellent” raw materials infrastructure.
At the end of June Sri Lanka’s government announced plans to encourage small farmers to produce more tyre grade rubber. Local news sources reported that plantations industries minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said a policy decision was taken aimed at increasing production of the RSS 3 type rubber grade: “Although most people think RSS 1 is the best and it is, the biggest demand is for RSS 3…That’s what big industrialists want. They are the main buyers of rubber.”
Ceat Ltd announced on Friday 4 June that its Sri Lankan investment arm – Associated Ceat Holdings Company Pvt Ltd (ACHL) – has become a wholly-owned subsidiary after it bought the remaining 4.5 million shares in the company. Ceat previously held a 54.84 per cent stake in ACHL. ACHL holds a 50 per cent stake in CEAT Kelani Associated Holdings Pvt Ltd, a joint venture with Sri Lanka's Kelani Tyres.
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