A thought-provoking article in China Tire Dealer shows the age profile of the bosses of tire dealers. Most were born in the 1970s and 1980s, with only a few in the 1990s or 2000s. The article argues that the industry needs more young people to take over. Source: China Tire Dealer
Profile of Tire King (tdw360.com) retail network
China Tire Dealer has published a rather glowing story about the Tire King dealer network operating under the website tdw360.com. Source: China Tire Dealer
Catalytic pyrolysis of end-of-life tires goes commercial
A long article on China’s recycling portal, the Feijiu Network claims a breakthrough in catalytic de-composition of end-of-life tires. The story says that after years of trying, the scientists have succesfully developed an industrial-scale system that is also commercially viable. It is claimed to be easy, cheap and simple to operate with low energy consumption;
Customs to crack down on compound imports
China State Customs is using a ruling to enforce inspections of rubber compound following last year’s new laws on the composition of rubber compound. AQSIQ General Administration of Customs Joint Announcement 2015 No. 165 (出入境检验检疫机构实施检验检疫的进出境商品目录). The Authorities have been checking for compliance with the new rules (GB / T31357-2014) since 1 February Source: China State
Puntures and extended mobility
China Tire Dealer prints an article about avoiding punctures. Many tires in China are still tubed, so a pucture leads to a catastrophic loss of pressure. In a tubeless tire, the pressure can be maintained for a short time, even with a nail penetrating the outer casing. The article looks at Goodyear’s twin-chamber concept tire;
Oscars tribute highlights US tariffs
A somewhat tongue-in-cheek article from China Tire Dealer offers its own answer to Hollywood’s Oscar awards ceremony. Best picture goes to “Tariffs must go” This picture represents the deeply-held view in China that tariffs against China-made tires are unfair and restrictive trade practices. Best Performance goes to Carl Icahn for stopping the acquisition of Pep
The Jiangsu General Science and Technology IPO
The draft prospectus issued ahead of GS IPO contained some interesting data A large spreadsheet containing the Chinese originals and English-language translations of some key data can be downloaded (7.2MB) from this link: http://bit.ly/GST-data The spreadsheet contains the following charts: Profit report 2012-2015 Product and Production capacity and Status by product Production Equipments Status Energy
Banks to promote supply side reform through lending policies
The latest buzzword in Chinese economic policy is supply side reform (SSR). This means rationalising over-capacity, weeding out weaker, low-tech players and adapting existing processes to modern manufacturing techniques. The latest story in the Chinese press suggests that policies will be focussed around lending to support only advanced manufacturing. An example given is the banking
US ITC to investigate TBR tires made in China
A week ago, on Friday 19 Feb, the US ITC voted to investigate the import of truck tires from China. The ITC is expected to report to the commission on Monday 7 March and issue a preliminary determination a week later on 14 March. Regular readers will remember that we addressed this issue a couple
Reactions to TBR investigation in China
The reaction in China to the US actions on TBR tires has been strong. A quote in China Business News says no US tire maker supports the investigation; besides profits have been soaring among US-based tire makers, so there can have been no injury. The report says, “China will closely follow the progress of the

