Now one of the largest tyre-producing countries in the world, China has an indisputable influence on the direction of global tyre trade. The home of both fast-growing up-and-coming brands as well as a burgeoning domestic market, this tag chronicles China’s involvement with the tyre business.
The Acorus wheel, which Michelin and Maxion Wheels first presented as a prototype at the IAA 2017 motor show in Frankfurt, is coming to market next year. Michelin announced the flexible wheel solution’s commercial launch at the China International Import Expo (CIIE), which opened in Shanghai on 4 November.
The Sailun Group’s newest truck tyre plant in Shenyang, China is now onstream. The tyre maker held a commissioning ceremony at its wholly-owned Sailun (Shenyang) Tire Co. Ltd. subsidiary on 18 November. The project gives Sailun an additional 3.3 million units of all-steel truck radial capacity.
A signing ceremony between Linglong Group and Qingdao University of Science and Technology (QUST) on 10 November paves the way for long-term cooperation between the two parties. So far Linglong has shared only a few details of the agreement, however it appears it covers training programmes as well as technological exchanges.
RH Claydon has today become the exclusive UK distributor of Triangle truck and bus and off the road tyres. The change of distributor for the brand follows Tym International’s decision to cease trading on 30 October. The specialist tyre importer-wholesaler, in which Triangle took a strategic holding in 2013, announced its liquidation in early September. Tym’s managing director, Steve Eke, has since been appointed UK & Ireland sales director of Triangle Tyre Europe. The Chinese tyre manufacturer, among the country’s top five according to Tyrepress data, set up a new European team headquartered in Milan in 2017 under general manager Corrado Moglia. Commencing its distributorship, RH Claydon stated that it looks forward to building a strong relationship with the brand.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) shares that a settlement has been reached in its patent infringement lawsuit against Timsum Rubber Tire (Weihai). SRI, which manufactures Dunlop tyres in certain regions outside Europe, filed a lawsuit with the Beijing Intellectual Property Court in response to unauthorised use of the Dunlop Geomax MX52 motocross tyre tread pattern.
China accounted for more than half of all passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyres entering the European Union and the United Kingdom for the first time during the first eight months of 2020. Comparatively, the then 28 EU nations imported 105 million passenger car and light truck (PCLT) tyres from outside the region in the same period of 2019.* The major impact on tyre demand of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as varying degrees of disrupted production, led to the EU-27 and UK together importing 21 million fewer tyres in the corresponding period of 2020, a reduction of 20 per cent. The Eurostat and HMRC data was compiled by leading data analyst Astutus Research.
Shandong Linglong Tire recently unveiled a new range of bio-based rubber tyres. Developed in joint collaboration with Beijing University of Chemical Technology over the past three years, the tyres utilise a number of sustainable rubber ingredients.
Qingdao, the major city at the heart of China’s Shandong ‘rubber’ province, has announced plans to test its entire population for coronavirus after 19 new cases were linked to a local hospital. This means all 9 million people living in Qingdao are scheduled to be tested during the five days following Sunday 11 October.
On 4 September 2020 Guizhou Tyre Co. Ltd’s board of directors approved plans for a private share issue. The plan was to raise 1 billion yuan in funding via the sale of now more than 200 million shares to 35 selected investors. By 11 September, the company had received the green light from the state-funded Guiyang Industrial Investment Holding Group Co., Ltd. that it would purchase no less than 43.5 per cent of the issued shares.
On 12 September 2020, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published its fourth batch of green manufacturing lists. The list includes 602 green factories, 371 green design products, 39 green parks and 50 green supply chain management demonstration enterprises.
Environmental campaigners have been protesting against Linglong’s Zrenjanin, Serbia tyre factory. At the same time the construction work, which has been variously described as either an 800 million euro or US$994 million project by different sources, has also been involved in certification disputes.
Double Coin Tires engineers praised the benefits of Eastman’s Eastman Crystex Cure Pro insoluble sulphur alongside scientists from the chemicals manufacturer Eastman during a joint speech at the China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) conference on 15 September. Around 200 professionals from tyre-related enterprises gathered at the conference to discuss the latest industry technologies and market status.
Stephen Goodchild/Tyrepress.com
Triangle
Linglong
Guizhou Tyre