The Future Tire Conference 2017, organized by European Rubber Journal, will take place on the 27-28 June 2017 at the Leonardo Royal Hotel in Cologne, Germany.
Early bird registration closes today.
April 28, 2017
April 26, 2017
Bridgestone airless bicycle tires by 2019
As an avid cyclist, the idea of riding without worrying about a flat tire is very appealing. Bridgestone hopes to make my dreams come true.
Bridgestone Corp., together with Bridgestone Cycle Co., Ltd. will advance feasibility studies and hopes to offer an airless bicycle tire by 2019.
Photo: Bridgestone Corporation
Cheng Shin to open two plants this year
Cheng Shin Rubber Industrial Co. Ltd. is ready to start production this year at its new plants in India and Indonesia. The two plants represent $720 million in investment.
Located in Gujarat province, the Indian plant has 20,000 unit daily capacity for motorcycle tires and tubes in phase one.
The Deltamas, Indonesia, plant for passenger car and motorcycle tires will begin operation later this year, as “construction was delayed due to the country’s excessive rainfall last year,” said Lo Yung Li, Cheng Shin’s assistance vice president.
The new plants bring Cheng Shin to sixteen factories, with capacity totals of over one million tires a day: six in Taiwan; eight in China; one each in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam.
Apollo opens new plant in Hungary
With an inauguration ceremony on April 7, attended by more than 1,400 Apollo employees, vendors, dealers and dignitaries, including Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Apollo Tyres Ltd. officially opened one of the world’s most technologically advanced and environmentally efficient tire facilities. Once Phase I is complete, the plant in Gyongyoshalasz, Hungary, will have the capacity to produce 5.5 million passenger and light truck tires and 675,000 commercial vehicle tires per year.
“It’s the culmination of years of planning, hard work and people living the values cherished by Apollo of working as one family to make this dream happen,” said Neeraj Kanwar, vice chairman and managing director of the Gurgaon-India based Apollo.
The plant is Apollo’s sixth worldwide and second in Europe. “Given now that we have two domestic markets, which is largely Europe and India, our next stop has to be the U.S.,” Najeer Kanwar said.
April 19, 2017
Klean Industries’ pyrolysis plant receives C2C certification
Following a 12-month study by McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry LLC of Canada-based Klean Industries’ production process and the end uses of the recycled carbon and oil products that derive from it, one of Klean Industries’ facilities has become the world’s first tire pyrolysis plant to receive Cradle to Cradle (C2C) certification.
“We are extremely pleased that beyond the traditional certifications, our team has exceeded all expectations and has achieved the highest environmental standard for the quality of products produced from any tire pyrolysis facility on the planet today,” said Jesse Klinkhamer, chief executive officer of Klean Industries.
April 17, 2017
Conti Expanding APAC Presence
Continental AG recently broke ground on a $265 million tire plant in Rayong, Thailand. This will be Conti’s sixth plant in the Asia-Pacific region. The plant is scheduled to open in 2019 with an initial annual capacity of 4 million passenger and light truck tires and up to 900 employees. Future ramp up could take capacity to 25 million tires per year.
Conti has also begun expansion of its six-year-old tire plant in Hefei, China. The project is designed to boost production there by 75 percent by 2019. Conti budgeted $272 million for the expansion, which will boost annual capacity to 14 million car and light truck tires and nearly double employment to 2,700 workers.
“We regard the Asia Pacific region, especially the China market, as the company’s main growth engine for the upcoming years. This large-scale expansion once again represents our confidence and commitment to the China market,” said Nikolai Setzer, head of Conti’s Tire Division and an executive board member.
April 7, 2017
Sentury Tire Coming to Georgia
Here’s a promo video for Qingdao Sentury’s new $500M tire plant being built in Lagrange, Georgia. Startup is scheduled for 2018.
Rami Helminen, CEO of Sentury Tire North America, visited the site with Scott Malone, president of the Development Authority of LaGrange.“This has enough premises to build even two factories. So after 10 years or so then we have a possibility to expand the operation here,” Helminen said.
April 6, 2017
Linglong Tire signs Aditya Birla Group as carbon black supplier
At a ceremony on March 25, 2017, Linglong International Tire (Thailand) Co., Ltd. signed a strategic cooperation agreement with India’s Aditya Birla Group in which Aditya Birla Group becomes Linglong Tire’s carbon black supplier. The company states that this strategic cooperation will “comprehensively improve the quality of Linglong’s products.”
April 4, 2017
Scandinavian Enviro Systems signs agreement with Guangzhou Vanlead Group for tire recycling plant in China
Scandinavian Enviro Systems, a Swedish-based provider of tire recycling technology, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Guangzhou Vanlead Group, a Chinese state-owned tire manufacturer (through South China Tire & Rubber Co.). The agreement is the first step in a process to build a turn-key tire recycling plant in Guangdong province, China, construction of which is scheduled to start in 2017. The plant will have a capacity to process 30,000 tons per year of tires.
April 2, 2017
INDSPEC closing Petrolia, PA plant, exiting resorcinol industry
Last week INDSPEC Chemical, an affiliate of Occidental Chemical Corp., announced that it was immediately ceasing production of resorcinol and related products at its Petrolia, Pennsylvania plant and that the plant would be shut down permanently by July 31, 2017. INDSPEC sold the Penacolite resins business in 2016 and agreed to continue manufacturing that product at the Petrolia plant for the transition period, which will cease at the end of July. The plant was not cost effective compared to global competitors.
“Our workers have made a significant effort over the last several years to improve the viability of the plant. Nevertheless, the outlook for the business continues to be unfavorable due to a number of factors including a global oversupply of our main product, resorcinol, and because INDSPEC’s manufacturing process is not as efficient as that of global competitors,” said Plant Manager Andre Salameh.”
Resorcinol is a crucial component of adhesion promoters, which are used in tires (specifically the belt plies, bead, and bead apex) to improve adhesion between the rubber layers and textile or steel reinforcements. Resorcinol is also used in manufactured wood products and flame retardants.
The shut down has left customers scrambling to find supplies. Other suppliers of resorcinol for rubber markets include Isochem (Germany), Kolon Industries (Korea), Lanxess (Germany), SI Group (US), Shanghai Amino-Chem (China), Sino Legend (China), and Sumitomo Chemical (Japan)