Darren Wells took over from Arthur de Bok as head of Goodyear’s EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) operations toward the end of last year. Since then some big decisions have been taken. The Amiens dispute has been resolved; a racing tire plant in the UK is to close and Goodyear Corporate has announced plans
As always, the Geneva Motor Show 2014 was a great place to meet people. Neeraj Kanwar of Apollo told me that despite some newspaper reports to the contrary, he does not rule out working in China at some stage in the future. In common with Continental, Hankook, Kumho, Goodyear and others, however, he says Apollo
The huge Kemya Elastomers project being built in Jubail, Saudi Arabia is on target to come on stream in mid-2015, according to Abdullah S. Al-Rabeeah, Executive Vice President, Performance Chemicals at SABIC. SABIC is one of the two 50-50 joint venture partners building the project. The other is Exxon Chemical Arabia. That is a wholly-owned
Anno Berkowsky, head of the Lanxess subsidiary Rhein-Chemie said at the opening of the new pre-dispersion production facility in Russia, “Rhenogran – which we will produce at the new site in Lipetsk – is one of our most established and important brands, and has a leading position in polymer-bound rubber additives. It can significantly shorten mixing
Lanxess has opened a production facility in Russia under Rhein Chemie. The subsidiary company creates polymer-bound rubber additives for the Russian market. The products that they make are mainly used in the automotive and tire industries. Lanxess claims that they invested a seven-digit figure into their new facility. Werner Breuers, a member of the Board of Management
According to ACEA, in May, the demand for new commercial vehicles in the EU resumed its downward trend. The increase in April is thought to have been a calendar effect. The Spanish vehicle market remains stable (+0.4%), while the UK (-4.0%), Germany (-9.6%), France (-11.2%) and Italy (-16.2%) registered fewer vehicles than in May 2012.
Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia have announced that they are seeking tenders to create a regional rubber market. These three countries currently produce 65% of the world’s natural rubber but do not have a futures market. They have had to rely on exchanges such as the Shanghai Future’s Exchange (SHFE), the Singapore Exchange (SGX) and the
Stock markets have punished Apollo Tyres for its audacity in daring to seal the biggest overseas deal in India’s corporate history – the acquisition of US-based Cooper Tire and Rubber. The share price of Apollo has fallen by around one third since the deal was announced. I’m trying to work out if this is justified
A conference in Berlin has crystallised an intense debate about the EU Tire Label. The event, organised by Marcus Evans Events took place on Tuesday and Wednesday this week (16, 17 April). It is still too early to say anything about the success or otherwise of the EU Tire Label. Early indications suggest that there
Tire manufacturing in Europe is going through something of a crisis. In January Goodyear announced the closure of its factory in Amiens-North. Last month Bridgestone announced the closure of its factory in Bari, Italy. None of this has provoked much debate Rumours that Michelin will reduce its output, however have triggered a string of comment
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