On 18 January, Sailun Group announced an 833-million-yuan (£99.63 million) investment to upgrade OTR tyre production at its plant in Qingdao, China. The upgrade will allow Sailun to produce OTR tyres in sizes up to and including 49-inch. The tyre maker intends to complete this upgrade and adjust its production portfolio within a period of ten months.
In the first half of 2022, Sailun Group’s operating income rose 21.28 per cent year-on-year to a record high of CNY 10.493 billion (£1.29 billion). Net profit attributable to the listed company’s shareholders rose 1.6 per cent year-on-year to CNY 715 million (£87.63 million), and net cash flow from operating activities amounted to CNY 457 million (£56.91 million), up 42.15 per cent year-on-year.
Maxam Tire has brought its EcoPoint3 technology to the material handling sector with the introduction of the MS600 press-on solid tyre. The Sailun Group specialty tyre business considers the use of this new rubber compounding technology a transformative step that provides an “unrivalled solution” for users of forklift tyres.
It doesn’t suffice for a product to be sustainable. The processes used to manufacture this product must be sustainable, too. This is the thinking behind EcoPoint³, the innovation in compounding technology that Sailun Group highlighted during The Tire Cologne. Arriving soon in tyres sold in the UK and Europe, EcoPoint³ results from more than a decade of development.
The Maxam Agrixtra range of agricultural tyres has been approved for original fitment on select New Holland T5, T6, and T7 SWB and LWB tractors around the world. “The homologation, approval, and commercialisation of our radial agricultural tyres is a significant step in the evolution of the Maxam brand as a long-term supplier to CNH Industrial and New Holland Agriculture,” says Kevin Buckley Maxam OE sales director Europe. The Sailun Group brand added that the approval represents a “major milestone” for the brand and its agricultural tyre series, which was introduced in 2014.
On 14 February, Sailun Group Co., Ltd.’s Board of Directors unanimously approved plans to invest RMB 1.43 billion (£165.9 million) to establish a factory in Cambodia with the capacity to produce 1.65 million all-steel truck and bus radials a year. These tyres will primarily be exported to meet demand in European and North American markets.
Chinese tyre maker Sailun Group Co. Ltd. has introduced a new rotational system for appointing the company’s president. Under the format, which takes effect this month, Sailun’s Board of Directors appoint a member of senior management to serve in this role for a maximum period of two years. Wang Jianye has been named the first president of Sailun Group under the system, succeeding Zhongxue Yuan.
Sailun Group has appointed a new chairman for its Supervisory Board. Ji Qing Li, who held the position since 2014, submitted his resignation on 9 July. His successor was named during a meeting three days later; Hao Li has taken on the role.
On 27 June, Sailun Group officially inaugurated the modernised former Anchi Tyres facility in Weifang, Shandong Province. Group subsidiary Sailun (Weifang) Tire Co., Ltd. invested RMB 719.9 million (£81.3 million) to upgrade production at the acquired plant and implemented its improvements within a timeframe of just six months.
Earlier in the year, Sailun Group announced it was evaluating the feasibility of producing car tyres in Cambodia, but the plans its Board of Directors approved this month are for a larger and costlier plant than originally reported. Planned capacity has risen 80 per cent, and the proposed investment almost doubled.
Sailun Group is considering setting up a plant to produce tyres for passenger vehicles in Cambodia. According to a feasibility study published today, the Chinese tyre maker is interested in building a facility within the QiLu (Cambodia) Special Economic Zone in Svay Rieng Province that is capable of making five million semi-steel radials a year. Sailun estimates the project will require an investment of 1.18 billion yuan (£130.5 million).
Sailun Group recently won the tender to acquire bankrupt manufacturer Shandong Anchi Tyres Co., Ltd., and in January paid RMB 202 million (£22.8 million) for Anchi’s assets. The tyre maker now plans to invest RMB 719.9 million (£81.3 million) to upgrade production within the former Anchi facility in Weifang, China and give it the capacity to produce 1.2 million truck and bus radials and 6 million passenger car and light truck tyres a year.
During today’s extraordinary shareholders meeting, its first of 2021, Sailun Group confirmed plans for the third phase of expansion at its wholly-owned Sailun (Vietnam) Co., Ltd. subsidiary. Over a three-year period, the company will invest 3.01 billion yuan (£340.1 million) to equip the site with the capacities to produce 3 million car and light commercial vehicle tyres, one million truck and bus radials, and 50,000 tons of off-the-road tyres per annum.
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.
Sailun Group is investing just over RMB 2 billion (£226 million) to increase truck tyre capacity at its Liaoning, Shenyang Province plant by 3 million pieces a year. The company’s wholly-owned Sailun (Shenyang) Tire Co. Ltd. subsidiary broke ground on the project on 1 March.
Maxam Tire
Tyrepress.com / Stephen Goodchild