Highlights of Tire Tech 2010

I am in Germany this week for the Tire Tech 2010 conference and trade show. As I type this, I can see the huge convention center – the Koelnmesse – from my hotel window.

It’s a packed program with many essential talks, but one session I wanted to highlight is Day 1, Session 2 – The Status of Car Tire Runflat and Run-On Performance. This is essentially a mini-conference on run-flats being held within the larger Tire Tech conference. It will have six talks and a panel discussion, including presentations from Bridgestone Europe, Mercedes, Ford, Pirelli, Goodyear, and Sumitomo. If you have any interest in the sector, this one will be essential.

There are also interesting sessions on Steel and Textile Reinforcements (Session 4), Polymers and Fillers (Session 5), and new manufacturing developments (Session 3). Notch is presenting in Session 1, which addresses conditions after the recession. Day 2 brings sessions on virtual modeling for tire design (Session 1), the Rubber in Engineering Group (Session 2), future developments in commercial tires (Session 3), TYROSAFE (Session 4), Global Regulations (Session 5), and Modern Tire Testing (Session 6).

India Puts Anti-Dumping Duty on Carbon Black

India’s Commerce Ministry has imposed anti-dumping duties on imports of rubber blacks from China, Australia, Thailand, and Russia. The duty ranges from $0.084 (about Rs 4) per kg to $0.423 (about Rs 20) per kg, the Central Board of Customs and Excise (CBEC) said in a notification.

Here is the notification. This notice is a followup to the group’s preliminary findings of May 25, 2009.

This blog previously reported on this in an earlier post.

In the statement, the India’s CBEC said that China, Australia, Thailand, and Russia have been exporting carbon black to India below their normal value. The anti-dumping duty would be effective for a period of five years, it said. Unlike safeguard duties, levied in a uniform way, anti-dumping duty varies from product to product and country to country. The purpose of anti-dumping duties is to counteract trade distortions due to cheap imports and the consequential injury to the domestic industry. It is not a measure to restrict imports or cause unjustified increase in cost of the products.

Conti Expanding Retreading Activities in Mexico

Rubber News (subscription required) is reporting that Continental Tire North America plans to establish itself in the Mexican retreading market over the next year with the opening of about 15 ContiTread retreading plants. Jasman Co., which operates about 50 Continental tire dealerships in Mexico, opened the first Continental retread plant in Monterrey on January 27 and expects to open two more. According to Rubber News, a Conti spokeswoman said other dealerships will operate the remaining plants, which are expected to open at a pace of one every other month into 2011. Conti also said it is exploring plans for the Canadian market.

European Tire Data Shows Fledgling Recovery

The European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) has released new data covering 2009, and the results show sharp declines over the first eight months of the year followed by steady but relatively mild recovery over the last four months.

ETRMA said European OEM passenger tire sales recorded an 18% decline in 2009 to 65 million, while replacement passenger tire shipments fell by 5 million units to 190 million. Germany, Italy Austria and Poland increased their tire sales in 2009, while France, the United Kingdom and maintained their sales levels from the year earlier or posted small decreases.

In truck tires, ETRMA said replacement shipments fell 16 percent compared to 2008, while OE demand slumped 62 percent. Ag tire shipments declined 16 percent.

Here is the press release.

[Source: Rubber News]

US Tire Import Tariffs – The Battle Switches to Thailand

There’s a round of “I told you so” going through the tire industry today. When the tariffs on Chinese tires were introduced last year, many industry observers argued that they would promote imports from neighboring Pacific Rim countries, rather than spurring new production in the US.

Now Rubber News has reported that a new battle is brewing in the U.S. Office of the Trade Representative (USTR) over duty-free treatment of tire imports from Thailand. Three tire makers — Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations L.L.C., Sumitomo Rubber (Thailand) Co., and Falken Tire Corp. — have petitioned the USTR to continue the duty-free status that Thai-made tires currently have under the Generalized System of Preferences. They argue that Thai imports are not a threat to U.S. tire production, and the price increase for all imports caused by the tariffs imposed on Chinese tires last September make it inappropriate at this time to add 4 percent to the price of Thai tires right now.

However, the United Steelworkers disagree, and argue that allowing continued duty-free status for Thai tires would hurt American workers by undermining the effect of the tariffs on Chinese tires. A hearing on the tire makers’ petitions is scheduled for Feb. 11 at USTR headquarters in Washington.

Bridgestone Sells Steel Cord Plants in Italy and China to Bekaert

On Monday, Bridgestone Corporation announced a definitive agreement to sell 100% of the shares of its Italian and Chinese steel cord manufacturing subsidiaries to Belgian-based NV Bekaert SA. The two businesses to be sold are Bridgestone Metalpha Italia S.p.A. (BMI) and Bridgestone (Huizhou) Steel Cord Co., LTD. (BSSH). As part of this transaction, Bridgestone has entered into a long-term tire cord supply agreement with Bekaert to ensure a stable supply of cord. The sale will be completed once the necessary governmental and regulatory approvals are received.

Bridgestone is one of the most vertically integrated companies in the tire industry, internally producing many of the raw and intermediate materials used in tire manufacturing. Prior to the announced sale, Bridgestone operated seven steel cord plants, located in the US, Italy, Thailand, Huizhou and Shenyang in China, and Kuroiso and Saga in Japan.

Here is the press release.

Toyo Tires Chooses Location for Chinese Plant

Toyo Tire & Rubber recently announced the location of its new wholly-owned subsidiary passenger and light truck tire plant in China. The plant, which was announced in August 2009, will be located in Zhangjiagang City, Jiangsu Province. Toyo determined that Jiangsu Province would be the ideal location to establish the new factory, as it already has the necessary infrastructure, work force, and logistical support. Operations are expected to commence by the end of 2011. Initial production capacity during the first phase will be two million units of passenger car and light truck tires.

Here is the press release.

Carbon Black China 2010

The Carbon Black China 2010 conference will be held in Chongqing, China from April 18-21. This is a major conference focusing on the largest and fastest growing carbon black market in the world. Notch Consulting is honored to be presenting a keynote address at the conference, “Current Conditions in the Global Carbon Black Industry.” There are two days of papers, as well as social and sightseeing events in and around Chongqing, on the upper reaches of the Yangtze River.

Upcoming Tire Conferences

Tbere are two conferences coming up over the next several months of interest to the tire industry:

The Tire Technology Expo 2010 will be held from February 9-11 in Cologne, Germany. This is a huge conference and trade show that is always worth attending. Notch Consulting will present a paper at the conference entitled, “Effect of the Recession on Carbon Black and Rubber Chemicals.”

Another great Spring conference is Clemson’s annual Tire Industry Conference, which will be held at the Westin Hilton Head Island Resort in Hilton Head, South Carolina on April 7-9, 2010.

Chinese Tire Imports into US Plunge in October

R&P News (subscription required) is reporting that Chinese passenger tire imports into the U.S. fell by more than 50 percent in October from September following the Sept. 26 imposition of higher duties, according to recently released trade data. The U.S. raised duties on Chinese consumer tires to 39 percent from 4 percent Sept. 26 in response to a trade action brought earlier in the year by the United Steelworkers union. The additional duties fall to 30 and 25 percent in the second and third years of the period under scrutiny.

For comparison purposes, I have provided the year-to-date figures from the US ITC below.

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Chinese Tire Imports into the United States by Month, 2009

Codes: 40111010 and 40112010

Passenger Tires
000 units
	Jan	Feb	Mar	April	May	June
Total	6546	6182	7808	8005	8159	8776
% China	41.8%	34.1%	40.5%	44.1%	43.4%	37.9%
China	2735	2107	3160	3527	3540	3323
Truck Tires
000 units
Total	1694	1519	1879	1763	1841	1853
% China	38.8%	22.6%	30.1%	32.2%	36.2%	37.3%
China	657	344	566	568	666	692

Passenger Tires
000 units
	July	Aug	Sept	Oct
Total	9544	9649	9671	7181
% China	43.0%	46.6%	45.1%	22.1%
China	4108	4496	4364	1588
Truck Tires
000 units
Total	1771	2191	2278	2121
% China	41.8%	38.3%	34.1%	19.7%
China	740	840	776	417