Bridgestone expanding Abilene, USA Bandag plant
To meet demand driven by the rapid growth of its retread business, Bridgestone is investing US$60 million to expand its Bridgestone Bandag manufacturing plant in Abilene, USA. The project includes new mixing operations as well as an immediate shift to six and seven-day production schedules. The mixing facility will be operational by January 2025 and, together with the revised production cycle, will increase plant output by 16%.
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Bandag celebrates 60 years in Australia
Bridgestone has celebrated the diamond anniversary of the very first Bandag operation to join the group. Today Australia’s sole producer of pre-cured retread materials, Bandag, has marked 60 years of local manufacturing, a milestone that Heath Barclay, managing director of Bridgestone Australia & New Zealand, says is “significant for any business, let alone a manufacturing business.”
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Massive scope for growth: Vaculug introduces refreshed team plus re-focused fleet, retread strategies
During June Vaculug invited partners, suppliers and media to a high-profile event in Oxford based at the former prison (now Malmaison hotel) and including an exclusive dinner within one of the Oxford University colleges. The overall message is clear, the company is not only reaching out in the increasingly post-Covid environment – its growing team of experienced key industry personnel is positioning itself to capitalise on the company’s status as one Europe’s largest independent tyre retreaders.
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Vaculug pledges alignment to Tire Sector SDG Roadmap
Vaculug Limited has become the first retreader to pledge alignment to the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap, the WBCSD Tire Industry Project (TIP) framework for action that “outlines impactful pathways” for the entire tyre sector in relation to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
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Vaculug accepting Bitcoin & Ethereum as payment
Probably a world first for Vaculug – the laregest independent retreader in Europe will now accept Bitcoin and Ethereum for all payments for tyres and related services. Vaculug will also sign its PPK and PPV fixed price contracts in CPK (Crypto per Kilometre) and CPV (Crypto per Vehicle) formats if customers want to fix or link their contracts to the price of Bitcoin or Ethereum.
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Galgo celebrates 70th anniversary
It is 70 years since Galgo took its first steps towards becoming a leading supplier to the tyre retreading industry. The company began producing and marketing shoe soles in August 1952 in Mexico City but soon expanded its portfolio to include rubber flooring and mats, gaskets, tubes, flaps, and, of course, retreading products.
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Vipal Machinery launches VR01 Smart Uno C
With its latest buffing machine, Vipal Machinery says it can guarantee standardisation in tyre buffing. This is the Vipal VR Smart Uno C, a unit with which the manufacturer anticipates delivering its partners improvements to their tyre retreading processes through a combination of agility and high standards of quality.
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Italy’s Gambassi takes over BIPAVER presidency
Guido Gambassi, former deputy secretary of the Italian Tyre Retreaders Association (AIRP) and tyre dealers’ association Federpneus, takes over as president of European retreading association BIPAVER this month. He succeeds Finland’s Jukka Lankolainen and will serve as president for a two-year period. Gambassi, formerly BIPAVER vice-president, was appointed to the top job during the association’s General Assembly 2022, which took place as an online event on 28 June.
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Bridgestone closing Hong Kong aircraft tyre plant
Bridgestone Corporation has announced plans to consolidate its aircraft tyre retreading operations in Asia. At the end of June 2023, it will close the Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Company (Asia), Ltd. operation in Hong Kong and transfer production to its Bridgestone Aircraft Tire Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. facility in Chonburi, Thailand. The closure of the plant in Hong Kong will affect 102 employees.
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Hankook boosts European Alphatread offer with expanded plant
Hankook Tire has marketed its Alphatread range of mould cure or ‘hot’ retreaded tyres for almost a decade now, and today satisfies demand for these products from plants in the UK, Spain, Italy, France and Germany. The last of these is the former Reifen Müller facility in Hammelburg, some 60 miles east of Frankfurt am Main. Hankook recently expanded its Alphatread operation at this site by setting up a separate mould cure retreading operation, significantly increasing capacity.
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Marangoni ready for “next phase of development” in India
With its acquisition of all remaining shares in the Marangoni GRP joint venture expected to be completed by mid-July, Marangoni Group is now looking forward to “embarking on its solo journey in India,” a region it considers a “fast-emerging key market in the retreading sector.”
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Marangoni acquires Indian JV share for 710,000 euros
Marangoni Group is now the proud 100 per cent owner of the business it established in 2015 as a joint venture to bring its Ringtread retreading system to India. In a notification sent today to the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, former joint venture partner GRP Limited confirmed disposal of its 50 per cent shareholding in Marangoni GRP Private Limited.
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Kabat: Tyres, tubes & compounds
Even if you aren’t familiar with the name Kabat Tyre, chances are that you’ve owned or used products that have a Kabat connection. This is because the Polish company isn’t just the largest manufacturer of inner tubes in Europe and a manufacturer of tyres for the off-highway segment – it also supplies rubber compound to big-name tyre makers.
Continue Reading USTMA: Tax credits for retreaded tyres would “level the global playing field”
The U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and its member companies have voiced their support for a legislative proposal to incentivise retreading. The Commercial Vehicle Fleet Retreaded Tire Utilization Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2022 (H.R. 8165), introduced to the United States Congress this week, would provide tax credits for fleet purchases of US retreaded commercial vehicle tyres.
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Hankook signs 5-year agreement with Vaculug retreading business in UK and Ireland
Hankook has signed a five-year agreement to produce Hankook Alphatread retreaded tyres in the UK. The tyre manufacturer wants to expand the Alphatread brand as part of its commercial vehicle tyre strategy. Vaculug is one of Europe’s largest independent retread producers, and first became Hankooks retreading partner in the UK in 2018. The retreader will also work with Hankook products as a premium fitment for all its fleets.
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