Brazil
Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. is increasing production capacity for both consumer and truck tyres at its factory in Brazil. With an investment of 1.064 billion Real (£148.7 million), the company will boost capacity for passenger vehicle and light truck tyres from 18,000 to 23,000 tyres a day by April 2024. It will lift truck and bus tyre capacity from the current level of 1,000 tyres a day to 2,200 per day by April 2025.
In order to meet increasing local demand for high-tech and premium tyres and in response to national and regional market share gains, Bridgestone is investing in its manufacturing facility in Camaçari, Brazil. The more than R$700 million (£101.7 million) investment will go towards modernising the plant and increasing production capacity by more than 20 per cent. The project will begin by the fourth quarter of 2021.
Six years ago, when Brazil introduced anti-dumping duties on car tyres imported from Ukraine, tyre maker Rosava withdrew from this market. It reports that it is now back, and following negotiations with a key player in Brazil’s tyre market will begin shipping 50,000 summer tyres a month.
As of 24 April, the Marangoni factory in Brazil is 20 years old. Inaugurated in 2001, the plant in Minas Gerais state was instrumental in introducing the Ringtread system to markets throughout Latin America, and as such has fulfilled Marangoni’s mission of providing tyre retreaders and their customers with “a higher quality product” suited to a continent that’s home to one of the world’s largest road networks.
On 29 June Bridgestone Corporation (Bridgestone) announced that it won a long-running trademark and trade dress infringement lawsuit against Brazilian retread company New Tyre Remoldadora De Pneus (New Tyre), in the São Paulo Court of Appeals.
Dayco will open a new South American plant in Indaiatuba, Brazil. The engine products and drive systems supplier says the new plant will improve the company’s distribution, production and technological capabilities in South America and support its fast-growing aftermarket business in the region.
In September 2019, Tyrepress.com broke the news that Yokohama is set to buy the ex-Pirelli industrial tyre business Prometeon. Back then, we reported that the deal was at an advanced stage and could be completed before the end of 2019. That clearly didn’t happen, but the deal is still live and the latest news is that it is nearing completion, but now also involves Aeolus Tyres.
Four tyre plants in Japan and the Americas are amongst seven Bridgestone Corporation facilities to receive Caterpillar Inc.’s highest Supplier Quality Excellence Process (SQEP) rating. The manufacturer of construction and mining equipment has awarded Platinum Level certification to Bridgestone’s Hofu and Shimonoseki (Japan), Des Moines (USA) and Santo André (Brazil) plants.
Pirelli is investing in production modernisation in Brazil, and as was recently the case at Goodyear in Germany, there are winners and losers. The latter includes the workforce at the company’s motorcycle tyre plant in Gravataí, Rio Grande do Sul, which is expected to close sometime in the next couple of years.
On 1 March 2019 Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. began manufacturing truck and bus tyres at its new Brazil manufacturing site.
Marangoni Spa and Borrachas Vipal SA have announced that the two retreading material suppliers have entered into a partnership agreement aimed at “increasing the synergies and productivity, strengthening the industrial and commercial organisation of both groups”. Details of precisely what this means are still scarce but, according to a statement issued by Marangoni, this will lead to the creation of “the largest global independent player in the tyre retreading sector”.
Roughly two decades after taking the helm at Nissan (and later chairing the Japanese firm’s alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi), the carmaker’s board voted to remove company boss Carlos Ghosn following his arrest in Japan for underreporting his salary.
Linglong Tire confirms the signing of a US$300 million deal with Paraguay-based tyre distributor Sunset Tires. Wang Feng, chairman of Linglong Tire, put his signature on a strategic cooperation agreement along with Nabil Chamseddine, chief executive officer and president of Sunset, on 12 October.
Shandong Linglong Tire has signed a tyre distribution cooperation agreement with distributor Sunset to expand its market share in Brazil and Paraguay.
Marangoni Tread Latino America has been accredited with INMETRO certification for its RingTread and Unitread pre-cure retreading materials production. Certification came after an independent assessment of Marangoni’s production plant in Brazil by Instituto Falcão Bauer, an accredited certification body in Brazil.
Bridgestone