Pakistan’s leading tyre manufacturer, Service Industries Ltd. and Chaoyang Long March Tyre Co. Ltd. have reportedly signed a joint venture agreement to manufacture radial truck tyres in Pakistan.
General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited is planning to invest around US$200 million on a new plant, local government officials told The News International on Saturday 2 February.
Vacu-Lug Traction Tyres Ltd has pledged its support to The Midland Doctors Charity, with a donation to the organisation, which was set up to help the community of Pakistan following the devastating earthquake of 2005. Midland Doctors is led by NHS doctors, senior consultants and business leaders, who provide medical care.
Under a technology transfer agreement signed with Pakistan-based battery manufacturer Century Engineering Industries, South Korean tyre maker Kumho Tire will provide technological and manufacturing know-how as Century establishes its own tyre production plant. The agreement signed in Seoul today covers the ten-year period to September 2028; Century Engineering will initially pay Kumho Tire US$5 million and 2.5 per cent of turnover for the assistance provided, with the contract scheduled for review after five years.
General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited reports net sales for the financial year ending 30 June 2018 increased 22.2 per cent year-on-year to PKR 11,785.5 million (£78.7 million). Profit from operations amounted to PKR 1,190.1 million (£7.9 million), down 8.7 per cent on the previous year’s result. Total comprehensive income for the year was PKR 671.4 million (£4.5 million), 20.7 per cent lower than in the 2016-17 financial year. Earnings per share amounted to PKR 11.97 (2016-17: PKR 14.75).
Continental intends to divest its shareholding in General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Ltd. The company owns a 9.78 per cent share in Pakistan’s largest tyre maker through Continental Global Holding Netherlands B.V., and according a notification sent by General Tyre and Rubber to the Pakistan Stock Exchange, Continental Global Holding Netherlands intends to sell its entire shareholding “as soon as practically and economically feasible.”
Ukraine-based tyre maker PJSC Rosava reports that half the tyres produced at its Bila Tserkva facility are now exported to other markets, and says exports to certain key markets have markedly increased during the past year. Exports to the Middle East have risen 400 per cent since January 2015, while tyre shipments to Europe increased 100 per cent during that period. Deliveries to OEM customers have grown 44 per cent since January, the tyre maker added.
Belshina JSC says it expects sales of its tyres in Pakistan this year will be double the level achieved in 2014. The Belarus-based tyre maker has been exporting to Pakistan since 2001 and in past years shipped 11,000 to 12,000 tyres a year to the country. Most of the tyres Belshina currently sells in Pakistan are agricultural tyres, however the company sees potential for greater volumes there, including sales of truck tyres.
The Pakistani tyre market is subject to widespread under-invoicing, which continues to lead to smuggling and illegal cross border trade. It’s nothing new, but local news sources are reporting that it is now happening at a “colossal” scale due to the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), citing data produced by the Pakistan Business Council (PBC).
Pakistan-based publication The International News reported on 29 October that The General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan Limited, or Gentipak, will establish a new manufacturing facility in the country’s north. Details of this plan were given by company chairman Lt Gen (Retired) Ali Kuli Khan Khattak at a gathering to commemorate Gentipak’s half-century in Pakistan.
Kenda has launched a new passenger car tyre designed with a strong focus on decreasing fuel consumption. Hosted by Varga Trading Co., Kenda director James Lo unveiled the newly developed eco tyres in a presentation that also showed the new tyre’s low noise pattern design, addressing another EU tyre label category. Other speakers included Dr Hongder Chang, Kenda’s general manager, who outlined the company’s goal of generating sales of US$2 billion, and dealers Mohammad Shahid, from Pakistan and Nassib Daher from Lebanon. The KR 30 is manufactured in Taiwan.
Singapore’s Mindtrac launched its new Ultra X range of Indian-manufactured cross-ply tyres for truck and light truck applications in a 20-strong line-up. The company said it secured business at the show with customers in Singapore, Pakistan and the Philippines.
Waking up to find your vehicle’s tyres punctured is often followed by a phone call to the police, but if you live in the city of Abbottabad, in Pakistan, a call to the cops will also put you directly in contact with the tyre-wrecking culprits. The Express Tribune newspaper reports that the Abbottabad police, a force fed up with criticism about its powerlessness to prevent cars from being stolen, has introduced a new means of foiling thieves – the police opine that if you can’t move a car you can’t steal it, and based on this logic police officers now spend their nights puncturing the tyres on parked cars in order to immobilise them.
An article in the Daily Telegraph by David Williams takes an in-depth look at car thefts in the UK. Despite a falling level of theft numbers (1991: 347,000, 2011: 95,681) the proportion of vehicles never returned to their owners is rising. Figures from RetainaGroup show that 41 per cent were returned last year, compared with 51 per cent in 2008 and 70 per cent in 2002. The insurer Swiftcover says that, last year, 65,000 UK-registered vehicles were stolen and never recovered, with a value of £300 million.
Comments made in Pakistan’s Express Tribune indicate the General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan, also known as Gentipak, plans to enter the motorcycle tyre market in mid 2012. The Karachi-based tyre maker, which produces passenger car radials under the General and Euro brand names and cross-ply tyres for light trucks, trucks and agricultural vehicles, recently invested Rs500 million (£3.5 million) expanding its production facility and began manufacturing tyres for natural gas-powered rickshaws; its production of motorcycle tyres is expected to start before the end of Pakistan’s current fiscal year.
