Phillips Carbon Black has invested in a means of converting excess gas into energy and financial savings. The India based company has announced the commissioning of its 30 MW co-generation power plant Durgapur, in the state of West Bengal. The Rs 1 billion (£11.6 million) facility, which utilising the waste gas produced during the process to generate power, was commissioned on September 29.
Mexico, Russia and Vietnam are reportedly under consideration as potential sites for Hankook Tire’s third facility to be built outside of Korea. A final decision is most likely to be made in the second half of the year, however it appears that Vietnam may be the strongest contender in the running.
Last November chief executive Suh Seung-Hwa said Hankook was considering building another production facility overseas after it completed its Hungarian facility, the next stage of which should be finished in 2010.
According to an article published in the Thanh Nien News, Yokohama Rubber officially inaugurated its new Yokohama Tyre Vietnam facility in Binh Duong Province on February 29. This year output at the plant is expected to be around 1.3 million tyres, which will supply both the local and export markets, including Japan. The six hectare site will employ a total of 500 workers, the Vietnamese daily reports.
In 1997, Yokohama Rubber established Yokohama Tyre Vietnam Company as a joint-venture company with Southern Rubber Industry Company (Casumina) and Mitsubishi Corporation, and has manufactured bias tires for light trucks and tires for motorcycles. Yokohama Rubber plans to integrate this company with Yokohama Tire Vietnam Inc.
At the start of March the Eco-Products International Fair 2008 (EPIF 2008) will take place in Hanoi, Vietnam. This exhibition, one of the largest environment themed fairs held in the Asia region, is taking place for the fourth time, and this year tyre major Bridgestone has announced it will exhibit its products
It is unsurprising that the Japanese manufacturer has chosen to participate in such an event – in the company’s own words, the “Bridgestone Group continually strives to strengthen its environmental management and minimise its environmental footprint, all aimed at the goal of improving the world in which we all live.” At EPIF 2008, Bridgestone will showcase its environmental policy and projects related to environment and conservation.
Phillips Carbon Black Ltd reported on July 4 that it has signed an initial pact with the Vietnam National Chemical Corp to conduct a study into the feasibility of a joint venture facility in Vietnam. If such an arrangement proves viable Phillips Carbon Black say they will hold a majority stake in the new company. Company chairman Sanjiv Goenka has stated that a joint venture with Vietnam National Chemical would require an investment of around £30.6 million.
Preparations to ready Kumho Tire’s US$4 million latex processing facility in Vietnam have reached their conclusion and on June 28 the new plant began operations. The facility, located towards the south of the country in Binh Dong province, has an annual capacity of processing 11,000 tons of natural rubber latex, which will be sourced from within the province. Plant output will supply the tyremaker’s $380 million tyre factory now under construction nearby.
When the new tyre factory enters production early in 2008 it will have a capacity of more than 3 million radials per annum, and these tyres will both be sold on the domestic market and exported to North American, European and ASEAN markets.
On June 7 South Korean industrial giant Hyosung Corp. revealed its plans to build a new £80 million tyre cord facility in Vietnam by 2010 as part of its drive to expand global production. The plant will be located in Dong Nai province, near Ho Chi Minh City, and will eventually produce 53,000 tons of tyre cord annually, much of which will be destined for export to Europe, South America and other parts of Asia.
Kumho Tires Co. has begun construction on a tyre plant in Vietnam in a bid to corner the fast-growing Southeast Asian market. The company said it would invest US$155 million into the new plant in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s economic hub, by early 2008. Kumho plans to increase its annual output by 3.15 million units through the investment. The company currently has a total global production capacity of 51 million units.
It seems that the announcement by Kumho that it is to spend US$155 million on building a factory at Binh Duong in Vietnam (30th April) is only part of the whole story.
(Akron/Tire Review) Confirming earlier reports, South Korea’s Kumho Tire Co. has announced that it will build a new $155 million tyre plant in Vietnam. According to the Korea Times, the new plant will come on-stream in 2008 with an annual capacity of 3.2 million tyres. Kumho signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam’s state-run builder Becamex in Binh Duong province to establish the wholly owned plant there. Construction on a 314,000-square-meter site just north of Ho Chi Minh City will begin in the second half of this year.
The Kumho Group plans to build a $100 million automobile tyre plant in Ho Chi Minh, the local Thanhnien news source has reported. Nguyen Huu Tin, deputy chairman of the People’s Committee, said the city had approved the project in principle and suggested a 30 hectare site in Cu Chi District. The plant, which will employ the latest technologies, will make products for both the domestic market and exports to neighbouring countries.
(Akron/Tire Review) Vietnamese newspaper Thanh Nien News has reported that Vietnam’s Southern Rubber Industry Co has completed a contract to supply 100,000 to 120,000 light truck tyres a year to Continental AG. In July, Southern Rubber Industry, also known as Casumina, completed a previous deal with Continental to supply 300,000 motorbike and scooter tyres a year.
The Vietnamese Government has taken steps to protect its domestic rubber industry by imposing an import tax on car tyres and tubes of 30 per cent and a 50 per cent tax on motorbike and bicycle tyres and tubes. These will fall to five per cent by 2006, as a condition of Vietnam’s entry into AFTA; the ASEAN Free Trade Area.
Vietnam’s rubber producers have called for a limit on exports of crude rubber. Exports to countries such as China have increased to the stage where the domestic rubber processing industry is facing a shortage of raw materials.
The price of rubber, at US$0.54, is the lowest for 30 years. Tyre producers, who buy two-thirds of rubber production, are being very cautious in view of the falling demand for cars in the large industrial countries. Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia want to keep prices high through a cartel but to date have not been very successful. Competitors Vietnam and Cambodia are increasing production, which has kept prices low. The rubber producers are pinning their hopes on China which – if it joins the World Trade Organisation – will import more rubber.
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