Retreading
Following US$20 million of investment, Vipal Rubber has started production at its new tread rubber and pre-cured tread factory in Argentina. Located in the Perez, province of Santa Fe, Argentina, the new factory will supply the Argentine and export markets.
Farrall’s Group is moving its entire fleet of 65 trucks and 100 trailers onto a Michelin tyre policy. The decision follows a trial organised by local Michelin advocate dealer Quinton Tyres, which demonstrated the sustainability advantages of the Michelin product. The company used to run a mix of competitor brands but will now switch to Michelin.
In the USA, the Tread Rubber and Tire Repair Materials Manufacturers’ Group (TRMG) has launched a new website at www.retreadrepair.org
The TRMG says that the new site is its first online platform featuring industry news and events, and links to educational materials including Industry Recommended Practices, designed to promote quality practices and processes in the tyre retread and tyre repair industry.
Marubeni range of international tyre-related investment interests also includes projects in Russia. One example is the establishment of Marubeni Rubber RUS LLC (MRR) in February 2019. In this case the Marubeni Corporation chose to connect with Russia’s very active mining industry due based on the country’s rich natural resources.
Vipal Machinery is reporting growing sales in the USA, having sold five machines so far this year in the world’s largest tyre retreading market. According to the company, four major North American retreaders acquired the five pieces of machinery including Pete’s Road Services based in Corona, California.
Hankook’s story is undoubtedly one of extraordinary growth. The South Korean-based manufacturer inaugurated its car tyre plant in Hungary in 2007, which currently produces around 19 million tyres annually. In parallel, the company has succeeded in becoming an OE supplier to nearly all European premium manufacturers. The same applies to truck tyres, albeit to a lesser extent. Even if Hankook only postponed plans to expand its Hungarian factory to include truck tyre production until the end of last year due to economic uncertainties, market observers can see that the tyremaker holds double-digit truck tyre market shares in in many European. For Hankook, this isn’t the end of the success story, but rather the introduction to even more extensive growth. Moving forward, Hankook was respond more fully to the increasingly demanding needs of European truck tyre replacement market customers.
Despite the fact that the UK was in the middle of lockdown, Michelin Tyre Plc’s ultra-modern retread manufacturing operation resumed production at the end of April. In fact, according to the company, there were only two reasons that the Campbell Road, Stoke-on-Trent site paused manufacturing at all: because the coronavirus-related closures coincided with a pre-planned maintenance stoppage; and because – again due to Covid-19 – there was trouble securing deliveries of the right raw materials from the continent prior to April (see “Michelin Stoke up-and-running, looking forward to ‘steady market growth’” for Michelin UK factory manager Francois Levert’s view on how things have progressed after reopening). Therefore, Michelin UK’s retread manufacturing operation only actually endured a three-week factory shutdown. The neighbouring UK headquarters opened in mid-July and so now its truck tyre and retreading business is putting the focus on success in the new normal. This began with a communications drive that has seen the manufacturer promote the ecological benefits of retreads. Tyres & Accessories spoke with Michelin Plc managing director Chris Smith in order to find out more.
Over the past seven years, Hankook has firmly established its range of hot retreaded Alphatread tyres in many European markets. What began in Great Britain as part of a joint venture partnership is now being given a new boost in Central Europe. With the takeover of Reifen Müller in 2018, Hankook is now also the operator of its own retreading operation, which is being gradually expanded into a fully-fledged Hankook factory retreading factory – something colleagues at our German sister publication Neue Reifenzeitung found out. Now that Hankook is also manufacturing Alphatread tyres for Germany and neighbouring markets, the medium term is about much more than just a new product range: Hankook wants to redefine its position as a service provider on the commercial vehicle tyre market and establish itself as a system supplier. Customers in other European markets should also benefit from this.
This article appears in full in the September edition of Tyres & Accessories’ Retreading Special supplement. Subscribers can read the supplement online here. Not yet a subscriber? You can change that here.
It has been a case of business – but not as usual – for Top Treads, one of Bridgestone’s largest European Bandag franchisees as the company has faced “the most challenging working conditions ever encountered in the company’s history”.
Fowler Welch has extended its long-running tyre fitment and management contract with Continental Tyres subsidiary and retread specialist Bandvulc. Continental and Bandvulc tyres will be specified across the entire Fowler Welch fleet of 450 Euro 6 trucks and 750 temperature-controlled trailer units for a further three years, continuing the relationship between the companies, who have worked together since 2011.
Vaculug, the UK’s last remaining largescale independently-owned retreader celebrates its 70th anniversary this year. And while the last edition of our bilingual Retreading Special supplement carried details of the family-focused summer fete-style party the company planned for its team in June, coronavirus and the resultant national lockdown has put paid to that. However, having started in straightened times of the post-war years, during the businesses’ seven decades of trading Vaculug is one of only a few retreaders that can say it has seen – and come through – it all: governmental changes, recessions, global financial crises and more. With all this in mind, you can see why company representatives recently tweeted: “70 years and no virus will stop us going for the next 70 and the next 70 after that!”
On 22 April Tyres & Accessories reported that Michelin was restarting production at its Stoke-on-Trent retread manufacturing facility. Roughly six weeks later, we caught up with factory manager Francois Levert in order to find out the latest.
Vipal
Michelin
TRMG
Vipal
NRZ; Arno Borchers
Michelin
Bridgestone, Bandag, Top Treads
NeroForce
Continental
Vaculug
Vipal
Michelin
Vipal