Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has signed up as a participant in the International Rubber Study Group’s Sustainable Natural Rubber Initiative (SNR-i). As a result, the tyre maker says it has “now committed itself to enacting measures in conformity with the initiative’s guidelines.”
Production capacity for passenger car and light truck tyres at Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ (SRI) Tonawanda factory in the US will double by the end of 2019 as part of a US$87 million investment the company will make over the coming four years. The Tonawanda site came under SRI ownership following the dissolution of the Japanese manufacturer’s global alliance with Goodyear Tire and Rubber last October, and the capacity increase will facilitate the tyre maker’s growing reliance upon the plant for meeting North American market demand.
As reported yesterday, Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is investing 312 million real (£73.0 million) to add a truck and bus tyre manufacturing capability to its site in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná state, in order to furnish the Brazilian market with a steady supply of locally-made products. The investment will cover the cost of erecting a new 13,400 square metre premises adjacent to the existing passenger car and truck tyre manufacturing facility, which entered operation in October 2013, as well as the purchase and installation of new production equipment at a cost of 208 million real.
In order to furnish the Brazilian market with a steady supply of locally-made products, Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is investing 312 million real (£73.0 million) to add a truck and bus tyre manufacturing capability to its site in Fazenda Rio Grande, Paraná state. The investment will cover the cost of erecting a new premises adjacent to the existing passenger car and truck tyre manufacturing facility as well as new production equipment. A March 2019 start to truck and bus tyre manufacture is scheduled, and the initial capacity will be 500 tyres per day.
Falken Tyre Europe has added two new winter truck tyres to its range, the new SI011 for the steer axle and the new SI021 for the drive axle. Both products have been designed to increase mileage and traction, while delivering stability and safety. Falken states it has increased the width of tread areas on both tyres, while Sumitomo Rubber Industries’ patented 4D-Nano compound technology has also been employed to increase the tyres’ performance in these areas.
Falken Tire Corporation has announced a realignment of its business units that accommodates changes brought about by the dissolution of the global alliance between parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries and Goodyear Tire & Rubber. The realignment will take place in stages and begins on 1 January with the subsidiary’s renaming as Sumitomo Rubber North America, Inc.; Richard Smallwood, who is currently CEO and president of Falken Tire Corporation, will hold these positions in the retitled business.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. shares that its Dunlop Enasave EC300+ will be fitted as original equipment on the new Toyota Prius, which goes on sale this month. The tyre maker has not specified which markets this deal applies to, however it indicates that the Enasave EC300+ will be supplied to Toyota in size 195/65R15 91S.
Although the Falken tyre brand is well-established in the European, North American and Japanese markets – Sumitomo Rubber Industries first rolled out the range in 1983 – it was only introduced into China at the start of this year. This means that Auto Shanghai 2015 will be the first chance for many Chinese consumers to get acquainted with the Falken name. The brand’s presence in China as a marque in its own right will therefore be helped by SRI’s decision to exhibit the range separately from the Dunlop tyre brand. The Falken stand at Auto Shanghai will feature products slated for release in the Chinese market, including the already-available Ziex ZE914.
A plant for converting end of life tyre rubber into a compound suited for use in new tyres will be set up in China’s Fujian Province if the aims of a new Memorandum of Understanding are fully realised. The MoU signed between China Automobile Parts Holding Limited and Malaysia’s Sri Elastomers Sdn. Bhd. on 18 March formalises both parties’ intention to form an alliance for the commercialisation of SRI Compound. Plans call for the establishment of a joint operation in the city of Xiamen.
Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries has reported net sales of ¥780,608 billion (€4.57 billion) for the 2013 financial year, 9.9 per cent higher than in 2012. Annual operating income amounted to ¥77,055 billion (£450.74 million), up 10.5 per cent year-on-year. Net income, at ¥44,794 billion (£262.03 million), was 26.4 per cent higher than in 2012. Net income per share was ¥170.75 (£1.00).
The winners of the Tire Technology International Awards for Innovation and Excellence 2014 have been announced, and Continental has walked away with awards in two of the five regular categories. In addition to being named Tire Manufacturer of the Year, the German firm was recipient of the Tire Manufacturing Innovation of the Year award for its ContiLifeCycle facility in Hannover. Other winners included Bridgestone, VMI and Sumitomo Rubber Industries. The awards were presented at a gala dinner held during this week’s Tire Technology Expo in Cologne.
Falken Tire Corporation, the Japanese brand’s North American operation, recently promoted Ken Masaoka to the role of vice-president of corporate planning. Masaoka, who joined parent company Sumitomo Rubber Industries in 1993, was previously Falken Tire’s director of corporate planning.
India’s Ceat Limited has reported a nine per cent growth in year-on-year revenues for the quarter ending 30 September 2013. On a standalone basis, revenues in this second quarter of the company’s financial year rose to Rs 12.63 billion (£127.6 million). Pre-tax profit rose from Rs 41 million in the second quarter of 2012 to Rs 1.1 billion (£11.1 million) in the most recent quarter. EBITDA for the second quarter of the 2014 financial year stood at 13.1 per cent, compared with 6.7 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
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.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries has published the English-language version of its "CSR Report 2013", which was originally released in Japanese in June. The report details the group’s corporate social responsibility activities during 2012.
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