Kraiburg report strong financial year
Gummiwerk Kraiburg closed the 2003 financial year with positive results. The company reported reports sales up by nine per cent in comparison with the previous year, and a rise in turnover amounting to six per cent. With sales up by 20 per cent, the „hotcure“ segment showed above-average progress, while „precure“ remained steady at two per cent up. Kraiburg report that the Central European market is holding up at last years level and the Eastern European markets are growing.
Continue ReadingGoodyear Dunlop Signs 10 year Agreement with IBM
Goodyear Dunlop Tires has announced a 10-year Business Transformation Outsourcing programme worth an estimated 50 million Euros in cost savings in two years. The agreement to partner with IBM on a procurement-to-payment program for indirect supplies represents another step in the companys effort to reduce costs by 1.5 billion US dollars by the end of 2005. Goodyear Dunlop Tires Europe will retain its core purchasing competencies, the activities of between 50 and 80 Goodyear Dunlop employees will be transferred to IBM, on a phased basis.
Continue ReadingMaxiprest profits down in 2003
Bridgestone Firestone Maxiprest reports headline earnings per share of 1.4 cents for the year ended December – a sharp decline from earnings of 23.2 cents reported the previous year. The group reported a headline loss of 1.759 million Rand after a 21 million Rand profit the year before. At trading level, margins were maintained at 26 per cent, which was more than satisfactory given the pressure on pricing in the second half of the year end trading results from the African operations. The group said the results were impacted by charges approximating 24.6 million Rand relating to the strengthening on the Rand, the write-down of investments in African operations of 1.8 Rand and the provision for increased bad debt to 11.2 million Rand.
Continue ReadingKeegan joins SRI board
Robert J. Keegan, chairman and chief executive officer of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company, has been elected to the board of directors of Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. in Kobe, Japan. Goodyear and Sumitomo Rubber Industries have six joint venture businesses in North America, Europe and Japan. In addition, each company holds common stock in the other.
Continue ReadingMetro to supply tubes for Continental
Indian company Metro Tyres will supply 100 per cent of Continentals four-wheeler tube requirements, said to be around 1,500 tons annually. Metro is to set up a new tube manufacturing facility outside Delhi, capable of producing 3,000 tons a year. The surplus will be sold on the domestic market. Tubes made in India are said to be 20 per cent cheaper than those currently supplied by East European companies.
Continue ReadingCharles Lawrence gets cleaner steel from tyres
Nottinghamshire-based Charles Lawrence International processes around 18,000 tonnes of commercial vehicle tyres a year at its £1.5 million granulating plant and has developed machinery to improve the recovery of steel from tyres. Over 72,000 tonnes of tyres recycled each year in the UK, creating 21,000 tonnes of a valuable high-grade steel fibre with a low copper content. But because the steel is contaminated by residual rubber from the granulating process, it is rejected by steel processing plants and has to be landfilled. Charles Lawrence Internationals new process claims to recover cleaner steel which can be recycled by steel processors.
Continue ReadingGoodyear develops new synthetic rubbers
Goodyear says it has developed new synthetic rubber products, which could cut its current spend on natural rubber by 15 per cent over the next three years. The company has been working on the project for some time, but extra impetus was provided by the recent steep rises in natural rubber prices. The new products are already being utilised in production.
Continue ReadingContinental to bid for Phoenix
Continental is to bid for Phoenix, the German manufacturer of automotive-related rubber products. Phoenix is based in Hamburg, has 10,000 employees and sales last year were 1.153 billion euro. Key products, accounting for around half of sales, are fluid handling hoses, conveyor belts and air springs. Industry experts estimate that the acquisition will cost 227 million euro. Net debt stands at 277 million euro.
Continue ReadingOutplaced Goodyear workers out of work
Some 100 white-collar workers at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. whose jobs were outplaced to a sub contractor may not have their jobs much longer. Some will be out of work as soon as April 30, and others will follow them until most are gone by 2006. The workers at the sub contractor, Affiliated Computer Services Inc. of Dallas (ACS), were told they would keep their same pay, vacation, years of service and other benefits. Last month, Goodyear announced it was transferring 100 jobs in Akron to ACS under a 10-year agreement. Goodyear said it expected the move to save it 45 million dollars.
Continue ReadingGoodyear fined by OSHA
Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has been fined 274,050 dollars for unsafe conditions at its Akron powerhouse after an employee was buried in coal up to his neck while cleaning a coal bunker in September. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said on Tuesday that it had issued six serious and four wilful citations to Goodyear for violating worker-safety procedures. A Goodyear official said the company has taken steps to improve worker training to avoid accidents. The company has also made unspecified physical changes to the powerhouse.
Continue ReadingFirestone East Africa to invest in equipment
Firestone East Africa Ltd. (Nairobi/Kenya) is set to commission a 114-million Shilling (0.8 million Pounds)truck and bus tyre-assembly machine as it struggles to emerge from a profit-decline over the last two years. The development will be coming on the back of another 1.1 million Pounds project. The new assembly machine is intended to enable enhancement of product range including the production of tubeless tyres. The firm has been shaken by huge profit drops since 2002.
Continue ReadingJapanese tyre makers boost Chinese output
Chinese media reports that Japanese tyre makers are poised to boost their production capacities in China. Bridgestone Corp. plans to launch a new plant in the eastern city of Wuxi in September and will also triple the monthly output capacity of an existing plant for truck and bus tyres in Shenyang, to 90,000 units. The moves will cost Bridgestone a total of around 20 billion yen (100 million pounds). Yokohama Rubber Co. is due to double the annual production capacity of its passenger car tyre plant in Hangzhou, to 1.4 million units. Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. will launch production in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, in April. Demand for passenger vehicle tyres in China grew to around 60 million units in 2003 and is expected to show an annual rise of 20 per cent in the future, demand for truck and bus tires, 80 million units last year, is forecast to grow even faster at over 40 per cent.
Continue ReadingSmarTire Signs New UK Distributor for Motorcycle TPMS
SmarTire Systems Inc. has announced it has signed an agreement with Motohaus Powersports Ltd. to distribute SmarTires second generation tyre monitoring product for motorcycles in the UK. Motohaus Powersports is a well-established distributor of motorcycle accessories and has a strong base of dealers throughout the UK. With safety high on the agenda for UK riders and with tyre pressures so critical to the handling of modern high-performance motorcycles, we are excited to be offering SmarTires tyre monitoring system to the UK market, says Owain Evans, Managing Director at Motohaus.
Continue ReadingCooper wants to sell auto group
Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. is reported to want to sell off its automotive group. The automotive parts division accounted for almost half of last years sales. Cooper-Standard Automotive, based in Michigan, had revenues of about 1.66 billion US dollars in 2003. Cooper said it could use money gained from selling the auto unit to reduce debt or invest in tyre operations. Chairman Thomas Dattilo said the company may be better off concentrating on its tyre business and expanding overseas.
Continue ReadingIndian tyre industry growing
The Indian tyre industry is expected to register impressive growth coming from a combination of both organic and inorganic development, according to credit rating agency ICRA. Consolidation of the Indian tyre industry is expected to continue through mergers of existing players. While organic growth would come from raising efficiency levels, inorganic growth would be achieved through alliance and mergers and acquisitions, it said. To leverage growth, ICRA predicted that tyre makers would expand their dealerships and explore tie-ups among themselves to increase customer bases. Outsourcing would also play a major role as many companies have entered into offtake agreements with tyre producers in South-East Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
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