A report from Denmark says child labour is being used to tap rubber. As part of their CSR policies, tire companies are asking their suppliers to provide a 100% guarantee that no child labour is used in the production of rubber. Such guarantees are all but impossible. Most rubber is produced by smallholdings. These can
R&D staff at tire makers around the world are over-loaded. This was one of the messages coming out of the Tire Technology event held this week in Cologne. The pressure of work from new product launches; labelling requirements and re-formulating is restricting tire makers’ ability to work with suppliers on new developments. If suppliers want
Goodyear Dunlop Europe is to close one of its two factories in Amiens, France. The move was predicted by Tire Industry Research weeks ago. The news was released to workers at the factory and on the US Securities and Exchange Commission on 31 January, 2013. Goodyear did not make a public announcement of the move,
Michelin has opened the first phase of its new factory in Shenyang, China. The project is huge. Total investment is scheduled to be US$1500 million (1,500,000,000). It will make many kinds of tire, including the cars tires, light truck tires, truck and bus tires. Total capacity will be 12 million units/year. This is projected to
Pirelli and its Russian joint venture partner have officially opened a new tire manufacturing line at the factory in Voronezh. The investment includes a mixing centre. The new line is capable of making the latest Winter tires for use in Russia and the rest of Europe. The factory will begin shipping the tires from March
Cabot Corp is receiving royalties from Michelin. The revenues come from an exclusive licence to Michelin for Cabot’s liquid mixing technology. Cabot sells the technology into the non-tire sector as Transfinity. Cabot’s main product is carbon black. The licence covers all tire-related applications for the technology. The licence permits Michelin to build and operate factories
In 2012, a total of 125,825 new commercial vehicles were registered in the EU*, down by 12.4%compared with 2011. The UK (-5.7%) and Germany (-7.0%) declined a bit. The French market shrank by 10.3%. The Spanish (-25.9%) and Italian (-31.7%) faced a more severe downturn. In the month of December, new commercial vehicle registrations continued
Continental Tire the Americas, LLC (CTA) is to invest $129 million in its Mt. Vernon, Illinois tire facility. The move will create more than 100 new full-time jobs over the next three years. The biggest spend is on a $95 million expansion of the Commercial Vehicle Tire (CVT) production area. This will enable the Mt
Two industry leaders are to produce a sustainable source of natural rubber in Europe. The natural rubber will be sourced from the guayule (Parthenium argentatum) shrub. The shrub will be grown at an undisclosed location in southern Europe. The two partners in the project are Versalis and Yulex Corp. Versalis makes synthetic rubber. It is a
“Ceat Ltd” says has updated its plans to build a tire factory in Bangladesh. The business will now be a joint venture with a local company. The factory will make cross-ply (bias-ply) tyres for trucks, light trucks and 2- and 3-wheel vehicles. Most of the output will be used in Bangladesh. About 20 percent will
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