News from Notch Consulting, Inc.

November 1, 2022

Bridgestone will divest Russian operations

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 10:29 pm

On October 31, Bridgestone Corporation announced it will sell all of its assets in Russia due to the war in Ukraine. The process could take several months. Bridgestone is seeking a buyer for its 80.6 hectare tire plant in Ulyanovsk, which opened in December 2016 and has 2.4 million units per year of capacity for passenger car and light truck tires.

Nokian chooses Romania for new tire plant

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 10:16 pm

Nokian Tyres has announced the location for its new tire plant — Oradea, Romania. The investment will total Euro 650 million and construction is scheduled to begin in early 2023. The factory is expected to begin production in the second half of 2024, with large scale production commencing in early 2025. Nokian said that the plant will be the first zero CO2 emission factory in the tire industry. Capacity in the first phase is 6 million units/year of passenger car tires.

In June 2022, Nokian announced it would exit the Russian market, divesting its factory in Vsevolozhsk, Russia, which opened in 2005 and has capacity to produce 17 million passenger car tires per year. On October 28, Nokian announced it had agreed to sell the factory to P.J.S.C. Tatneft for around $400 million.

May 16, 2022

Tire Tech Exposition coming this week to Hannover

Filed under: Auto, Carbon Black, Conferences, Tires — Notch @ 3:19 pm

Notch will be presenting a paper on current conditions in the global carbon black industry at the Tire Tech Expo happening this week at the Hannover Messe, Germany. This giant conference/trade show is an absolute must for anyone interested in the tire industry. Notch is presenting on Day 2 (Thursday, May 19) during the “Solutions in Polymer, Filler and Compound Additives” session, which begins at 9:00 AM. There are many, many papers of interest over all three days, as well as a full trade show on-site. Hope to see you there.

January 25, 2022

Tire Tech Expo postponed from April to May 2022

Filed under: Carbon Black, Conferences, General, Tires — Notch @ 12:12 pm

Due to the current rapid escalation of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 throughout Europe, the Tire Technology Expo 2022 is being postponed by 6 weeks and will now be held on May 18-20, 2022. The location remains the same, the Deutche Messe exhibition center in Hannover, Germany.

Conference organizers said they are making the change to enable delegates, speakers, and exhibitors to enjoy the show in the early summer when many of the complications associated with Covid-19 are less impactful. “Based on everything we have seen in the last two years,” Tony Robinson, founder of the conference, said, “A lower risk of Covid-19 transmission in the warmer months is the most significant benefit of the 6 week postponement along with easier travel and hopefully no requirement for mask wearing or other restrictions.”

December 10, 2021

Goodyear/Monolith sign development agreement on carbon black

Filed under: Carbon Black, Tires — Notch @ 4:29 pm

Monolith Materials (Lincoln, NE) today announced it has signed a collaboration agreement and letter of intent (LOI) with Goodyear Tire & Rubber under which the companies will collaborate on the development and potential use of clean carbon black produced at Monolith’s expanding Olive Creek facility in Hallam, Nebraska.

“Monolith’s carbon black enables manufacturers like Goodyear to meet their sustainability goals and address customer demands for environmentally-responsible products,” said Rob Hanson, co-founder and chief executive officer, Monolith, in a press release. Monolith expects to begin construction on its expanded Olive Creek facility in 2022, with completion scheduled for 2025. Once complete, Monolith’s Olive Creek facility will produce 194,000 tonnes of cleanly made carbon black annually, along with 275,000 tonnes of clean ammonia. When fully commissioned, the facility will be the largest manufacturer of carbon black in the U.S. and the first built in the country in over 50 years.

“At Goodyear, we’re committed to sustainability and making a positive impact by our choice of the materials we use,” said Chris Helsel, senior vice president, global operations and chief technology officer. “Our collaboration with Monolith is one example of how we are using sustainable materials in quality products that deliver a better future.”

June 14, 2021

Michelin introduces two sustainability products at Movin’On summit, including racing tire with 46% sustainable materials

Filed under: Carbon Black, Recovered Carbon Black, Tires — Notch @ 3:35 pm

At the 2021 Movin’On global sustainable mobility summit, Michelin introduced two innovations related to sustainability.

The first innovation is an automated, inflatable sail system, WISAMO (Wing Sail Mobility), designed to improve fuel usage in merchant ships and pleasure craft.

The second innovation is a new racing tire containing 46% sustainable materials, fitted to the GreenGT Mission H24 hydrogen-powered prototype developed for endurance racing. This very high percentage was achieved by increasing the tire’s natural rubber content and using recycled carbon black recovered from end-of-life tires. Other bio-sourced or recycled sustainable materials used in the tire include orange and lemon rind, sunflower oil, pine resin and recycled steel from tin cans. The recovered carbon black used in the racing tire is supplied by Scandinavian Enviro Systems. SES also provides the recovered carbon black used in a sustainable motorcycle racing tire for MotoE that Michelin introduced in April.

Michelin has focused on racing tires for its sustainability push to emphasize the fact that the use of sustainable materials need not compromise performance.

As a real-world technological laboratory, motorsports enable Michelin to develop and test new high-tech solutions in extreme usage conditions. With this innovative partnership, Michelin is showcasing its ability to incorporate an ever-higher proportion of sustainable materials into its products without compromising on their performance.

This year, Michelin announced its commitment to using 100% sustainable materials in all its tires by 2050. This commitment will reach an initial milestone in 2030, with a Group-wide target of having 40% sustainable materials in its tires.

May 20, 2021

Tire industry group launches sustainability roadmap

Filed under: Tires — Notch @ 10:13 pm

On May 18, the Tire Industry Project (TIP), a consortium of 11 leading tire companies, announced a roadmap to address the tire industry’s sustainability goals through 2030. The project is part of the Sustainability Development Goals (SGDs), which were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 to address some of the world’s most pressing environmental and societal issues by 2030.

The new report, Sustainability Driven: Accelerating Impact with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap, was produced by the 11 member companies of TIP in consultation with value-chain stakeholders. The members of the Tire Industry Project (in alphabetical order) are, Bridgestone, Continental, Cooper Tire, Goodyear, Hankook, Kumho Tire, Michelin, Pirelli, Sumitomo Rubber, Toyo Tires, and Yokohama Rubber.

The Roadmap identifies how the tire value chain interacts with the Sustainability Development Goals, as well as the areas where the tire sector can have the most significant impact and the key actions to scale and accelerate the tire industry’s contribution to the SDGs. The Roadmap was produced in consultation with a range of global stakeholders including industry associations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and subject matter experts, along with support from consultancy firm ERM.

February 25, 2021

Carlisle extends TyrFil Recycling Technology

Filed under: Tire Recycling, Tires — Notch @ 2:39 pm

Carlisle Construction Materials, a subsidiary of Carlisle Companies Inc., is extending the company’s TyrFil Recycling Technology.

The new AutoFil-GenII pump can mix virgin tire fill with crumb rubber, polyurethane grind or a combination of both crumb rubber and PU. The new pump delivers “enhanced pump and grind speeds and significantly reduced clean-up time,” the company said. There also is enhanced visual interface through a monitor with improved touchscreen capabilities.

According to Carlisle, its TyrFil computer systems can accurately meter and mix controlled amounts virgin liquid tire fill with granulated tire fill to create a homogenous mixture for tire fill. Carlisle TyrFil is also known as foam fill and can be pumped into OTR tires to replace air with an elastomer core to eliminate flats. The process can be used on tires for both commercial and industrial heavy-equipment vehicles.

February 22, 2021

Goodyear acquiring Cooper for $2.5B

Filed under: General, Tires — Notch @ 10:35 pm

Goodyear Tire & Rubber announced today that it has reached an agreement to buy Cooper Tire & Rubber Co. for $2.5 billion. Akron-based Goodyear is the third largest tiremaker in the world with annual sales totaling $13.7 billion in 2019, while Cooper ranked 13th worldwide with annual sales of $2.75 billion in 2019. The purchase has been approved by the Board of Directors of both companies. The combined company will have approximately $17.5 billion in sales, based on 2019 figures, according to Goodyear.

February 17, 2021

BKT expanding capacity for tires and carbon black in India

Filed under: Carbon Black, General, Tires — Notch @ 12:46 am

Balkrishna Industries Ltd. has announced a capital investment plan valued at $257 million that will increase capacity for OTR tires and carbon black in India.

The program has three components:

BKT will invest $108 million to boost capacity for 51- and 57-inch OTR tires at the factory in Bhuj, Gujarat, along with debottlenecking and the installation of additional ancillary equipment. Overall capacity will be expanded by 50,000 metric tons per year.

BKT will spend $60 million on modernization, automation and technology upgrades at Bhuj and another tire plant in Bhiwadi, Rajasthan.

BKT will spend $88 million to expand capacity at a carbon black plant located at the Bhuj factory complex. Capacity will increase to 200,000 tons per year. The plant started up in 2019. The company did not release a completion date for this project.

In addition, BKT is nearing completion on a new farm/industrial/OTR tire plant being built in Waluj, Maharashtra, which will replace a 30-year-old facility nearby. BKT said it expects the plant to be operational by the first quarter of 2022 with a start-up capacity of 30,000 metric tons per year.

Finally, BKT’s board of directors confirmed that the company’s proposed tire factory to be built in the United States, which was first proposed in 2018, has been shelved due to “business uncertainties.”

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