Vietnamese tyre exports were worth US$920 million in 2017, up 44.2 per cent from 2016. Meanwhile, local tyre production enjoyed a trade surplus of $564 million in 2017, doubling the amount gained in the previous year.
Contract tyre supplier Firenza showcased five of the firm’s most popular ranges from car through to truck tyres.
Under a new multi-year manufacturing offtake agreement, the Sailun tyre plant in Vietnam will produce truck and bus radial (TBR) tyres for Cooper Tire & Rubber. Tyres produced for Cooper in the Sailun Vietnam Co., Ltd. plant will be manufactured under the Roadmaster, Dean and Starfire brand names and be sold in global markets. Cooper says the offtake agreement gives it a “third global source of TBR tyre production to meet growing customer needs.”
Vietnam Rubber Group (VRG), a state-owned business and country’s largest rubber producer/exporter, is scheduled to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on 2 February 2018 with shares being listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange in June or July.
At the end of April Tyres & Accessories reported that Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd. announced plans to build a truck tyre factory in Vietnam. Back then, reports suggest the company would invest RMB 1.67 billion (£189.3 million) in the project for a plant capable of manufacturing 1.2 million all-steel radials per annum. The intention was to set up the factory in the Long Jiang Industrial Park, some 30 miles from Ho Chi Minh City where a 20-hectare site had been selected. During the recent Tire+ exhibition in Shanghai, Tyres & Accessories sat down with Guizhou’s general manager of the export division, Jie You, and found out more about the company and its plans.
Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd. intends to build a truck tyre factory in Vietnam. Chinese industry publication Tireworld writes that the company will invest RMB 1.67 billion (£189.3 million) in the project, which will result in a plant capable of manufacturing 1.2 million all-steel radials per annum. The intention is to set up the factory in the Long Jiang Industrial Park, some 30 miles from Ho Chi Minh City; Tireworld says a 20-hectare site has been selected, with construction commencing in the coming 12 months.
At the beginning of November Sailun Jinyu International (SJI) appointed Gareth Passmore as its president for Europe. He replaced Martin West, who has been appointed global president of the SJI Speciality Tire Group. Passmore, who started on 1 December 2016, is now responsible for all operations throughout Europe across all of the Sailun Jinyu Group brand portfolio – Sailun, Jinyu, Black Lion and Rovelo. Passmore brings with him over 25 years of tyre industry experience, including time with Continental, Apollo (in South Africa) and latterly with Sumitomo Rubber Industries where he headed up the Falken brand’s European export operations. During a recent brand and winter tyre product demonstration event in Sweden, Tyres & Accessories caught up with Passmore and at the same time we were introduced to Sailun’s ambitious goal of becoming a top 10 tyre manufacturer in the years to come.
Sailun Jinyu Group reports that the first all-steel TBR tyre was manufactured in its new factory in Vietnam on 24 November. In announcing the news, the China-based tyre maker notes that it decided to erect a second plant at its Sailun (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. site in order to combat the tariffs in place in the USA. It began work on the factory on 14 March 2016 and produced the first tyre just over eight months later.
South Korea’s Kolon Industries has signed a memorandum of understanding with the government of Vietnam’s Binh Duong province regarding the set-up of a tyre cord factory in the region. At the ceremony on 23 November, Kolon Industries also announced its entry into a land lease contract with Vietnamese investment and development corporation Becamex IDC, under which the Korean firm will lease a 42-hectare site in Becamex IDC’s Bau Bang Industrial Park.
Next year, the 16th Automechanika show worldwide will debut in Vietnam. The first edition of Automechanika Ho Chi Minh City gets under way on 15 March 2017, and organisers aim to develop the three-day show aims into Vietnam’s leading regional trade fair for the automotive service industry. Organised by Messe Frankfurt, Chan Chao International Co Ltd and Yorkers Exhibition Service Vietnam, Automechanika Ho Chi Minh City is expected to house 350 exhibitors and welcome 8,000 visitors at Saigon Exhibition and Convention Center.
With its new solid tyre plant in Vietnam’s Bình Dương Province, Camso says it aims to “gain leadership position in the Asian material handling market.” The off-road tyre and track specialist completed the 23,000 square metre plant in the town of Tân Uyên within 14 months and views the site as “an ideal location” for further diversifying Camso’s manufacturing operations and improving the company’s competitiveness. The manufacturer adds that the plant is equipped with “best-in-class manufacturing technology.”
The Sailun Jinyu Group has informed the Shanghai Stock Exchange about plans for its wholly-owned Vietnamese subsidiary, Sailun (Vietnam) Co., Ltd, to invest up to US$200 million in all-steel belted tyre and off-highway tyre production. At a meeting held on 8 December, the Sailun Jinyu Board of Directors unanimously approved the project.
Following the news in late September that Kenda received an investment license for setting up a tire factory in Vietnam, further attention has been cast on both the local tyre market and the country’s attractiveness to foreign tyre manufacturers.
Taiwan’s Kenda Rubber intends to significantly increase investment in Vietnam and establish a large passenger car tyre plant there. In an interview with Channel NewsAsia correspondent Victoria Chen, company chairman Yang Ying-ming said NT$10 billion (£200.5 million) would ultimately be invested to erect this facility, which will most likely be Kenda’s largest tyre factory and boast production capacity rivalling that of Kenda’s operation in China.
A ceremony has been held to mark the official opening of Bridgestone’s latest tyre factory. The grand opening of the Bridgestone Tire Manufacturing Vietnam Limited Liability Company (BTMV) plant in Hai Phong City, Vietnam comes half a year after production of passenger car radials began there. The opening ceremony was attended by guests from the Vietnam government, Hai Phong City, the Embassy of Japan in Vietnam, and representatives of companies from the automotive sector.
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