The former president and CEO of Pirelli Tire North America, Gaetano “Guy” Mannino, is drawing upon his years of sales, marketing and manufacturing experience with the Italian tyremaker in his latest business venture. Mannino, whose quarter-century tenure at Pirelli ended in October 2007, has announced the formation of Verdek, a consulting and trading company with corporate headquarters in Rome and offices in Connecticut and Tuscany.
Trelleborg is reported to be expanding its operations in Sri Lanka at the expense of those in the US. The Ceylon Daily News reports that the Swedish firm intends to invest US$20 million expanding its operations in this South Asian nation, with part of this expansion taking the form of relocating its entire Hartville, Ohio tyre operations there.
Balkrishna Tyres is reported to be planning a new facility within the Special Economic Zone in Gujarat, northwest India. An investment of Rs 5 billion (£64.7 million) will go into the facility over a three-year period starting in the 2009 financial year, with the completed plant expected to have an annual output of 75,000 tonnes. The company’s head of finance, B K Bansal, told local media “we are analysing two to three Special Economic Zones in Gujarat and are in talks for acquisition of land, though nothing has been finalised as yet.”
Laugfs Gas Holdings will reportedly invest 800 million rupees (£10.4 million) to enter the international pneumatic tyre market in 2008. The first product in the Sri Lanka-based company’s pneumatic tyre portfolio was a Laugfs Colt, a 4.00×8 small pneumatic tyre with flexible sidewalls designed and manufactured for three-wheelers. “This has proved to be a major success and we command a high market share,” Laugfs chairman and managing director W. A. Wegapitiya was quoted as saying.
Indonesian manufacturer PT Multistrada Arah Sarana has announced plans to increase its production capacity from 17,000 units per day to 40,000 during 2008. The company’s public relations manager, Prawita Hertika, said that this move was necessary to keep pace with demand, which at present is averaging 100,000 units per day.
Prawita said that the company, which produces the Multi Strada range of tyres, will expand the capacity of its factory in Cikarang, east of Jakarta to meet increasing export demand. Should market requirements necessitate still further expansion, Prawita added, Multistrada has sufficient vacant land at its factory site to accommodate additional development.
The tyremaker at present exports 85 per cent of its production, with the UK, the Middle East and the US three of its key markets.
Indian tyremaker MRF is reported to be preparing to build its anticipated new facility in the state of Tamil Nadu during the first half of 2008. This news was disclosed by a regional government official, Mr. A Rajah, who added that most of the 140-hectares of land required for the Rs9 billion (£112 million) facility in the district of Perambalur had already been acquired and construction work on a new Rs250 million (£3.1 million) ring road connecting with the plant would begin within six months. MRF has previously stated that much output from this new facility would be earmarked for export markets.
Pirelli Tyre reports that price increases of up to 10 per cent are planned for all passenger car, SUV and truck tyre lines sold in Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific markets, effective as of January 1, 2008. The manufacturer states that the increases have been necessitated by continued increases in the cost of raw materials and energy.
(Tire Review/Akron) In a new trade deal, China will eliminate “improper” trade subsidies it was allegedly using to prop up profitable trade with the US, to the detriment of local and foreign companies. The deal was announced earlier this week by US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, who called it a major breakthrough.
In the deal, China will eliminate WTO-illegal tax breaks that aided Chinese companies exporting to the US and other countries, and end taxes and tariffs that harmed reciprocal trade with China. There was no immediate word how the agreement will impact the import or export of tyres and tyre-related products.
A federal trade panel ruling in the US has provided a glimmer of hope for Chinese tyre manufacturers facing the prospect of tariffs imposed upon their products. On November 20 the United States International Trade Commission ruled against the American glossy paper industry’s request for tariffs on paper imported from China, discarding duties that the US government had authorised earlier in the year. The ruling stated that US makers of glossy or coated paper had not been “materially injured” or “threatened with material injury” by the subsidised Chinese products entering the market.
However the ruling did not dispute that the Chinese government’s programme of subsidising of products destined for export may be improper or illegal, therefore the door remains open for US tyre manufacturers, amongst others, to seek relief through the imposition of tariffs. Government policy introduced in March, allowing for potentially crippling tariffs on Chinese manufactured goods on the premise that China illegally subsidises some of its exports, also remains in operation.
Pneumatic Components Ltd. (PCL) is putting pressure on the continent with the appointment of Export Sales Executive Natalie Wilmot. Wilmot, a business and languages graduate from Chesterfield, will be based at the company’s HQ in Sheffield, and will be responsible for developing French and Spanish speaking markets in Europe and internationally.
With PCL launching new products at Equip Auto in October 2007, and able to display the prestigious “A La Bonne Foi” handshake symbol on products, symbolising competence to manufacture and verify tyre inflation equipment, the appointment is well timed.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has ended an investigation into allegations of a safety defect on the Pontiac GTO, built by Holden. The alleged fault involved the clearance between the front tyres and the suspension components. NHTSA said it could not find a safety defect and was closing its investigation. However, according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the investigator said it appeared there was a problem with the suspension settings on many cars.
Despite the US government closing the issue, General Motors still faces a class-action suit filed in California on behalf of owners of 2004 and 2005 model year GTOs, which the suit contends are prone to tyre failure due to the alleged suspension problem. The company denies any defect.
The island state of Sri Lanka, long one of the world’s major rubber producers, also holds the distinction of being the world’s largest producer and exporter of solid tyres. This sizable industry is one that Laugfs Corporation Rubber, a subsidiary of Sri Lanka’s Laugfs Holdings, intends to enjoy a share of, and the company thus is investing in a new facility for the production of solid tyres.
A 2.43 hectare site for the new operation has been owned by the company for two years, reports CEO Ananda Hadunge. The installation of equipment is expected to begin in early November, with the facility ready for commercial production in the first part of 2008. Hadunge adds that the facility will initially produce 12 tonnes of tyres per day, with this capacity increasing to 25 tonnes within six months.
Export markets have been viewed as a priority from the onset, and the CEO apparently has his eye on the USA, Canada and Western Europe as key target markets for the new plant’s products. According to Hadunge, Laugfs Holdings is reportedly also planning to invest in a solid tyre production facility in Australia that will produce tyres for industrial and construction vehicles. The CEO did not elaborate further regarding this project, however.
Since November 2004, when Tyres & Accessories introduced China as “a market emerging from the haze”, the country and its tyre business has continued to develop at a dramatic speed. This is not only because Chinese tyre manufacturers have turned their attention towards European markets but also because Western manufacturers are pushing forward into China. This is where they want to produce tyres that are then sold either domestically or on export markets in Europe or North America. Today, China and the Chinese tyre market is no longer hiding in the haze but basking in bright sunlight. In China alone about 330 million tyres are produced annually, 235 million of which are radial tyres, and of this 180 million are passenger and light truck radials. And it goes without saying that the Chinese tyre market is bound to grow.
The growth of the Chinese tyre market is first of all a growth of the international tyre majors. It is some time since these companies began to carve out their territories in China. In doing so they have benefited from their superior brands, technologies and distribution structures. And often they have deeper pockets than most of their Chinese competitors, who cannot all keep up. The Chinese tyre market stands at the threshold of full integration into global economic structures.
With this new edition of our bilingual supplement on the Chinese tyre market the two sister publications Tyres & Accessories and Neue Reifenzeitung are again taking a close look at what’s taking place behind the Chinese wall.
The bilingual supplement “China – Tyre market without equal“ can be downloaded as a PDF file by clicking here.
Nokian Tyres has officially confirmed the rumours that it is negotiating a factory project in Kazakhstan. The company reports that negotiations are ongoing, and as of August 24 no agreements have been made. Nokian aims to finalise the negotiation project before the end of the year.
According to previous information supplied to Tyres & Accessories, Nokian tyres may be manufactured at the US$200 million factory being built in the national capital by Kazakhstan’s Ordabasy Corporation. This new plant will have an annual capacity of 4 million tyres when in full production.
The boys and girls in blue have every good reason to look a tad cynical when yet another motorist tries to talk their way out of a speeding ticket; during the course of their often thankless job the average police officer is the recipient of a rich assortment of colourful but implausible excuses for fast driving. But if you’re quick – and own the face of a poker player – you may be granted the opportunity of testing a brand new excuse next time the long arm of the law catches up with you: I didn’t know I was speeding, officer. It was my tyres….
An Australian researcher has drawn the conclusion that numerous motorists are being unfairly booked because their vehicle’s speedometers are underestimating how fast they’re travelling, and one of the factors leading to instrument panel incongruity is the type and condition of the rubber that comes in contact with the road.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
