Whether its raw materials, machinery, research and development or the latest manufacturing trends, this tag provides up-to-the-minute insights into the upstream part of the tyre industry.
With an increasing number of countries and regional groupings implementing anti-dumping and countervailing policies against Chinese-produced, Chinese tyremakers are describing the situation as “not optimistic”. However, facing the harsh international trade environment head-on, Jinyu Tire reports that it has a number of solutions for the current market problems.
Jiangsu General Technology Co. Ltd, which is known as General Science or Jiangsu General, has announced plans to invest 3.061 billion yuan (£341.930 million; 399.958 million euros; US$473 million) in the construction of a 10.2 million tyre a year factory in Anqing, Anhui Province, China. The announcement of the new Chinese production base follow plans for investment in the construction of a separate factory in Cambodia.
GS Yuasa is using Welsh Government funding of up to £2.5 million to form part of a multi-million pound investment by the Japanese based corporation in its production plant in Ebbw Vale. As a result, 105 new jobs and a further 360 positions are protected.
Nokian Tyres is adding third and fourth production shifts at its US factory to increase output capacity to 24/7 production at the facility, in response to rising demand in North America. The company launched its third production shift the week of May 17 and will add the fourth shift in mid-July. Adding shifts is on pace with Nokian Tyres’ plans to produce as many as one million tyres at the Dayton factory in 2021.
Evonik Industries has developed a new, active filler for the tyre industry that significantly improves the traction of winter tyres in snowy and slushy conditions, thereby increasing safety. Ultrasil 4000 GR is the first Low Surface Area (LSA) silica that also offers very good dispersibility. This enables very high filler levels in the tyre tread, further improving traction compared to tyres using conventional silica.
The first batch of radial truck tyres rolled off the production line at Guizhou Tire Co Ltd’s Vietnam plant on 1 April 2021, marking the completion of the first phase of the factory project. When Guizhou Tire’s Vietnam tyre factory, which was funded through a share issue in September last year, gets up to speed it will produce 1.2 million radial tyres a year.
Groupe Michelin’s Capital Markets Day presentation, conducted via webcast on 8 April, set out its agenda for the next decade, putting its plans in front of leading global banks and financial firms. Circling around a central theme of sustainability, the group executive committee, led by managing chairman Florent Menegaux and general manager and chief financial officer Yves Chapot, showed how Michelin intends to “diversify while strengthening” in order to achieve its key economic and ecological targets. Chapot and Menegaux stated that expanding “non-tyre revenue” up to more than one-fifth of the group’s turnover by 2030 would make the group more agile and robust in the face of future crises. The current global health crisis has been instructive in this regard; the committee credited the development of the group’s non-tyre portfolio with assisting in its resilience over the difficulties of 2020, and now intends to continue the acceleration of its diversification. Its digital and materials innovations will simultaneously “deliver new growth,” while contributing to the overall strength of the group: a leitmotif of the committee’s presentation.
The Sailun Group is ramping up production at its plants in China and Vietnam. The manufacturer brought its newest truck tyre plant in Shenyang, China onstream in November 2020, giving it an additional 3.3 million units of all-steel truck radial capacity. In addition, Sailun plans to invest RMB 719.9 million (£81.3 million) to upgrade production at recently acquired manufacturer Shandong Anchi Tyres in Weifang, giving it the capacity to produce 1.2 million truck and bus radials and 6 million high performance passenger car and light truck tyres a year. Most recently, Sailun confirmed plans for the third phase of expansion at its Sailun (Vietnam) subsidiary.
General Tire has announced a voluntary exchange programme involving a maximum of 612 passenger vehicle tyres that were produced at the company’s Mt. Vernon, Illinois plant and sold in the UK replacement tyre market. The affected tyres are specific DOT and mould numbers of these products: General Tire Grabber AT³ LT235/85 R16; General Tire Grabber X³ LT265/70 R17. Affected tyres will be replaced free of charge.
Toyo Tire Corporation’s 2021 to 2025 ‘Mid-term ’21 plan’ indicates the brand’s intentions for its new Serbian plant, due to commence production in April 2022. The Japanese brand says the facility will not merely offer “local production for local consumption.” It says the plant will play a major role in further international expansion, becoming by far its most cost-effective.
ToP Tunniste, which supplies RFID solutions to businesses including the tyre industry, has merged with Fentec Partners Ltd. The merger, which was completed on 31 December 2020 means the company is now known as Fentec Ltd, effective 1 January 2021.
Cooper Tire wasn’t initially looking to sell when Goodyear chief executive Rich Kramer approached the company, Cooper’s president and CEO told journalists in a virtual press conference on 22 February 2021. Rather, Cooper’s management and board were convinced by Goodyear’s “compelling offer” and “strategic logic”. So, what exactly was it that convinced Cooper’s leadership team?
Following the news that Pirelli is consulting on reorganising part of its Burton tyre production, the company reaffirmed its commitment to both its Burton and Carlisle locations. But could the consultation relating to Pirelli’s Burton MIRS line mean transferring tyre production to Carlisle?
Jinyu Tire
Morning Star
Yuasa
Guizhou Tyre
Michelin
Sailun
Toyo
Cooper
MohammadAli Dahaghin; Unsplash