The South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) has welcomed the International Trade Administration Commission’s (ITAC) publication of provisional payments on “unfairly traded (dumped) imports of passenger, truck and bus tyres imported from China”. Provisional payments in place for a period of six months amount to 38.33 percent ad valorem. The six-month period runs from 9 September 2022 until 8 March 2023.
Continental Tyre South Africa is marking its 75th anniversary in South Africa with its sponsorship of Cars.co.za’s four-part ‘Continental Icons’ video series. Available on the Cars.co.za YouTube channel, one of the largest branded channels in South Africa with more than 320 000 subscribers, the videos highlight the tyre manufacturer’s original equipment heritage. The General Tire and Rubber Company South Africa was founded in January 1947 and acquired by Continental AG in 1998, after which it was renamed Continental Tyre South Africa. The company said the acquisition helped cement it as one of the country’s leading tyre manufacturers.
Sumitomo Rubber SA (SRSA) is following up its Dunlop Container road safety and sustainable township entrepreneurship project established in 2012 with a further training scheme. Dunlop’s Enterprise Development dealers can now apply to send their employees for training in one of four focus areas: Technical Skills, Occupational Health & Safety, Business Acumen and Sales and Customer Care. SRSA will select candidates from the applications for the fully funded training.
South Africa is currently contemplating anti-dumping tariffs for tyres imported from China, and an investigation is currently in its preliminary phase. A healthy head of steam has already built up on both sides of the argument, with the recent debate including a claim from the Tyre Importers Association of South Africa (TIASA) that the tariffs will simply result in Chinese imports being substituted for tyres from Europe or Japan. The South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (SATMC) has issued a statement countering assertions such as this.
South Africa’s International Trade Administration Commission (ITAC) announced in January that it would look at allegations of dumping levelled against importers of tyres from China. This investigation is still ongoing, but opponents warn that if authorities decide to apply duties to these products, the cost of tyres could increase by up to 41 per cent, with price rises for transportation and essential products a knock-on effect.
Farmers and agricultural contractors in South Africa are now able to fit their equipment with the Bridgestone tyre range that’s available to their counterparts in the UK and Europe. Bridgestone’s launch offering in South Africa comprises of the VT-combine, VT-Tractor and VX-Tractor.
The South African Competition Commission tyre price fixing hearing got underway in South Africa on 28 January 2022. The Competition Commission names Apollo Tyres South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Goodyear South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Continental Tyres South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Bridgestone South Africa (Pty) Ltd; and South African Tyre Manufacturers Conference (Pty) Ltd its case and alleges that from around 1999-2007, the respondents “discussed and agreed to fix the prices of passenger, light truck, bus, off-the-road, agricultural and earthmover tyres”. This was allegedly done through the SATMC, an association for tyre manufacturers in South Africa. The respondents were members of the SATMC.
Continental Tyre South Africa has sold the manufacturing assets it used to make industrial and agricultural tyres in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Prior to the sale, Continental manufactured bias-ply and radial agricultural tyres at the Port Elizabeth location. Continental’s ongoing production operations, such as its passenger car and light truck lines, are not affected by the news.
Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) has appointed a new senior management team for its tyre manufacturing plant in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth). The appointment comes as Continental gears up to increase the site’s role as a supplier of light commercial vehicle tyres to global markets.
Amidst widespread economic and political unrest in South Africa, local tyre manufacturers have experienced significant disruption and even looting. Specifically, the Dunlop South Africa (formally Sumitomo Rubber South Africa Pty Ltd – SRSA) Durban Westville warehouse was “invaded” by trespassers and looters resulting in the loss of 90 million rand (£4.533 million; 5.255 million euros; US$6.190 million) of tyre stock. Such is the scale of the problem, the local tyre industry has embarked on a “say no to looted goods” campaign.
The Ford Ranger Raptor is now exclusively fitted with General Grabber AT3 tyres as standard. The high-performance off-road pickup from Ford features a specially developed motorsport-friendly chassis. And its particular performance qualities come to the fore at high speeds away from paved roads.
Like all vehicle manufacturers, Ford defines a wide range of requirements, which Continental (the manufacturer of the General Tire brand) reports the Grabber AT3 “more than met during intensive testing”.
Sumitomo Rubber South Africa (Pty) Ltd (SRSA), manufacturer of the Dunlop, Sumitomo and Falken tyre brands for the African continent, has announced the appointment of Lubin Ozoux as its new CEO and Executive Director of SRSA effective 1 January 2021. Ozoux will take over the role from outgoing CEO, Riaz Haffejee who has led the company for the past eight years. Haffejee will remain with the company until the 31 January 2021 to “ensure a smooth transition”.
Continental South Africa
SRI
Goodyear
Sora Shimazaki
Continental
Continental AG
SATMC
General Tire
Sumitomo Rubber South Africa (Pty) Ltd