News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

March 26, 2018

J.D. Power survey finds customer satisfaction with run-flat tires improving

Filed under: Run-flats, Tires — Notch @ 7:48 am

According to the 2018 J.D. Power U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study, overall customer satisfaction with original equipment tires has improved significantly since 2015.

The notable news is that run-flat tires are closing the satisfaction gap with conventional tires.

“The rise in satisfaction helps tire manufacturers’ efforts to meet the demands of OEMs while simultaneously improving the customer experience,” said Brent Gruber, senior director of automotive quality practice at J.D. Power. “The fact that there is little difference in satisfaction between run-flat and traditional tires is a great example. Many OEMs have been replacing spare tires with run-flats to help reduce vehicle weight and improve fuel efficiency. Just a few years ago run-flat tires were a detriment to customer satisfaction but the experience is much more positive now.”

The 2018 U.S. Original Equipment Tire Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 30,477 owners of 2016 and 2017 model-year vehicles, and was fielded in October-December 2017.

March 21, 2018

Orion adding specialty black line in Italy

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 10:08 pm

On March 20, Orion Engineered Carbons announced that it will expand production capacity at its facility in Ravenna, Italy, with the construction of a new specialty Carbon Black line. The line will provide additional Specialty Carbon Blacks to supply the growing coatings, polymers, printing and specialty applications markets.

Jack Clem, Orion’s Chief Executive Officer, said in a press release, “After extensive review and analysis of opportunities, in addition to the ongoing conversion of existing rubber capacity to specialty, we are adding a new line to take advantage of the strong demand for Specialty Carbon Blacks and extend our successful penetration of the specialty segment. This investment continues Orion’s rapid realignment of our portfolio toward higher value added products.”

The new line is expected to begin production in the fourth quarter 2019. The company did not release capacity for the new line.

March 17, 2018

Maxxis opens 2-wheeler tire plant in India

Filed under: Tires — Tags: , , — Notch @ 4:06 pm

Maxxis International has launched its first tire manufacturing plant in India. The facility was inaugurated by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijaybhai Rupani.

Capacity at the Ahmedabad plant is rated at 20,000 motorcycle tires and 40,000 tubes a day in phase-one. The Taiwanese company invested $400 million to build the plant, its first in India.

The tire maker operates six plants in Taiwan; eight in China; and one each in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. Capacity totals over 1 million tires a day.

Maxxis Tires is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cheng Shin Rubber Ind. Co. Ltd., the largest two-wheeler tire manufacturer and the ninth largest tire company in the world.

Referenced article found here.

Saudi NTC advances $1.2 billion tire plant project

Filed under: Tires — Tags: — Notch @ 3:32 pm

Saudi Arabian National Tire Co. is in the final stages of awarding the construction of its $1.2 billion tire production plant to an EPC contractor, according Farid Dudin, general manager of Victoria Trading FZCO and head of the tire plant project.

Among the top bidders is South Korea’s Samsung Engineering, Dudin said at the Tire Technology Expo, held Feb. 21-23 in Hanover, Germany.

“The EPC contractor will be fully-involved as an EPC contractor, but we will be in charge of selecting the machinery,” Dudin said.

The scope of the project has expanded to $1.2 billion from the original $1 billion, announced in January.

According to Dudin, the machinery will cost $800 million, and an additional $400 million has been set aside for land, construction, and other EPC costs.

Referenced article found here.

March 15, 2018

Himadri announces new specialty carbon black plant in India

Filed under: Carbon Black — Notch @ 11:50 pm

The Hindu Business Line reports that Himadri Specialty Chemicals plans to invest ₹1,000 crore ($154M) over five years to expand its carbon black business. The company plans to set up new carbon black lines at its existing integrated plant at Mahistikry, West Bengal, India to produce specialty carbon black.

According to Anurag Choudhary, CEO, Himadri currently has a capacity of 120,000 tons of carbon black per year and will add 200,000 tons of capacity over the next five years. “We will be investing close to ₹300-400 crore (out of the ₹1,000-crore) in the first phase to add close to 60,000 tonne capacity. Commercial production (from this expansion) is likely by April 2019,” Mr. Choudhary said at a press conference in Kolkata on Wednesday. Himadri plans to introduce close to 40 new grades of carbon black and expects to clock additional revenue of ₹2,500-3,000 crore from the new product lines once it is fully operational.

Specialty grades of carbon black find applications in racing tires, moulded rubber goods, wires, cables and fibers. Once the new capacity is fully operational, Himadri plans to supply the domestic India market for specialty carbon black and export up to 80% of its production to North America, Europe, Asia and West Asia. According to Mr. Choudhury, “There is hardly any big player in India in this segment. These speciality chemicals were being imported from the USA and Germany. Our products will be of import substitution by nature.”

March 8, 2018

High-value tires lead Pirelli growth plan for 2018

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 1:38 pm

Pirelli & C. S.p.A. aims to further increase sales of high-value tires, under a growth plan detailed in the company’s annual results presentation(pdf). The document, issued Feb. 26, builds on Pirelli’s relaunch, last year, as a premium passenger car tire supplier after separating its industrial tire business into Prometeon Group.

Under the latest plans, the company’s Latin America operation is to cut standard tire production and convert to making high-value products, including increased SUV penetration.

Likewise, in its Middle East, Africa and India region, Pirelli said it would look at “progressive reduction of standard production.”

Again, operations there will increase the proportion of high-value product sales, which already exceed 50 percent of sales in the region in 2017.

In Russia, meanwhile, the tire maker aims to improve its share in the 17-inch and larger market, “with an increasing weight of locally produced high value tire.” It also will try to strengthen price position in the region.

Pirelli has previously outlined four categories of high-value products: Prestige which was developed with car makers such as Ferrari, Bentley, Bugatti and Rolls Royce; New premium tires with diameter of 18 inches or more; Specialty tires including runflats and color editions; and Premium moto, which are high-end motorcycle tires.

For 2018, priorities will include re-engineering and consolidating the “integrated business planning process,” starting from Prestige, concluded Pirelli.

Referenced article found here.

Continental re-enters ag market with introduction of two tires

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 1:24 pm

A little more than two years after it confirmed plans to re-enter the farm tire market, Continental A.G. has launched its first two standard ag tires, the Tractor 70 and 85, and said they’d be available in North American this summer.

The premium radial drive tires are available initially in 14 sizes, a fraction of the 100 sizes Conti said it will offer in its radial and bias-ply tire portfolio by 2019.

Conti said the tires feature the “N.flex technology” and have a special bead design with a single wire core, making them extremely robust, reducing the risk of tire damage.

The Tractor70 is slightly wider than the Tractor85, and offers a bigger contact patch between the tire and ground. It can run with lower air pressure even when bearing heavy loads, resulting in less ground pressure and, in turn, less ground compaction.

The tires are produced at Continental Mabor Industria de Pneus S.A. plant in Lousada, Portugal. Conti also produces bias-ply tires for the agricultural sector in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, and Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

Referenced article found here.

Linglong to build fourth China plant, considers two more overseas

Filed under: Tires — Tags: — Notch @ 1:10 pm

Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd. plans to build a fourth factory in China, an $875 million project in Hubei Province, and continues to research locations in Europe and North America for possible expansion.

Yantai-based Linglong plans to break ground in May on the factory—with a capacity of nearly 14.5 million car, truck and industrial tires annually—at a 247-acre site in Jingmen, a city of nearly 3 million residents in central Hubei Province. Construction is expected to take three years.

The plant is designed with annual capacity for 12 million passenger, 2.4 million truck and bus, and 60,000 engineering tires, Linglong said. The plant also will have an annual capacity of 1.5 million inner tubes and flaps as well as for plastic pads.

The company has three plants in China: in Liuzhoui, Guangxi Province, and Dezhou and Yantai, Shandong Province, as well as one in Rayong, Thailand, that it opened in 2014.

Besides the new site in Jingmen, the company also envisions building one more in China and two overseas, one each in Europe and the U.S.

Referenced article found here.

China’s Linglong to assist Iran tire plant project

Filed under: Tires — Tags: — Notch @ 12:58 pm

China’s Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd. has agreed to become the engineering/procurement/construction (EPC) and non-EPC contractor for the construction of a greenfield tire plant in Iran, according to a senior Iranian official.

Massoud Mohammadi, CEO of Arya Hamoon Tire Co., said Linglong is expected to provide production technology for the project, which is being built in southeastern Iran.

“(Linglong) will most likely supply the technology for the production of the agreed 50 sizes of tire,” Mohammadi said.

“Production capacity is 3.1 million units a year, which will include both passenger car tires and truck and bus tires,” he said.

Located in Sistan-Baluchestan province on the Pakistan border, the plant is being set up in Ramshar Industrial Zone in an area of 50 hectares, and is expected to create 1,400 jobs once completed.

Referenced article found here.

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