News Archive

This section includes a representative selection of news items from the retreading industry from around the world taken from our latest issue 2011/2. To make sure you get all the stories from the retread market order your regular subscription now!

Continental Opens New Retread Plant in Ecuador
ISO 14001 Certification Confirms Vacu-Lug's Green Credentials
£20 m to Safeguard Michelin's Stoke Plant
Marangoni Opens Ringtread Plant in Kuwait City
Cuba to Open Modern Retread Plants
New Chinese Plant for Goodway
The Retread Tire Association Offers C&G Courses in North America
The FIA Bans Retreads in European Truck Racing
Pneus Lanoraie Makes Progress Under New Ownership
Snider Tire Opens Its Sixth MRT Plant
Rubber Demand Ahead of Supply Says IRSG
Yusan Tire Forays into Retreading Machinery
Inmetro Certifies Retreading Sector in Brazil

Continental Opens New Retread Plant in Ecuador

ContiLifeCycle is expanding. Continental Tire Andina has opened a new retreading plant in Guayaquil, Ecuador, the country's main port. The move is the latest step in Continental Tire the Americas LLC's plan to expand its ContiTread distribution network in North and South America. "Planta tu Futuro," which means "Plant your Future," is the tagline for the facility. Continental says the new plant has the most advanced technology in Latin America for retreading. The plant is the second facility in Ecuador. The first plant is located in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and has a retread capacity of 48,000 tyres per year.

The Quito and Guayaquil plants will be able to produce a combined 80,000 ContiTread tyre products annually. The retreads, along with new tyres, will be sold through controlled distribution outlets, ContiTruckCenters, in the Andean region. Continental next plans to tackle the markets of Brazil, Colombia and Chile to spread its coverage of ContiLifeCycle solutions throughout Latin America.

ISO 14001 Certification Confirms Vacu-Lug's Green Credentials

Vacu-Lug Tyres has been awarded ISO14001:2004 status for its Environmental Management System, underlining the green benefits of dealing with the UK retreader.

The award follows a rigorous external inspection and audit, during which the inspectors were especially impressed with the actions the company has taken to reduce energy its use by 20 percent and recycle 100 percent of its non-tyre-related waste. As a part of its energy use reduction programme, Vacu- Lug has developed special thermal insulation systems for its tyre presses which are now being used by many other manufacturers.

"The green benefits of retread tyres are well documented", comments Environmental Project Manager Peter Connolly, "but I am delighted that in achieving ISO 14001 certification we have also demonstrated that we manage and reduce our environmental impact in everything we do. It's great for our customers to be confident that when using our products they know we are leading the way in protecting the environment".

£20 m to Safeguard Michelin's Stoke Plant

Michelin's retread plant at Stoke in the UK is undergoing a £20million upgrade that the company claims will secure employment in North Staffordshire for many years to come. However, the final restructure will see a reduction of 50 jobs at the factory, according to plant manager Peter Marsh. The company, which only last year obtained a £3.9 million grant from the government, has submitted plans for the modernisation programme to expand the production area for its new generation tyres. It has already started modifying existing buildings before constructing a new facility at its Campbell Road site next year when the scheme has been approved by Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Michelin factory manager Peter Marsh said, "Thanks to the commitment shown by our employees it is another step forward and great news for longterm security and the future of manufacturing on the Stoke site. "It will allow us to maintain our manufacturing base in North Staffordshire, which the area needs, and it allows us to develop our people and retain their skills using the new facilities."

Over the next five years, senior managers at the Campbell Road business want to plough in more than £20 million to make it the most advanced plant of its type in the world.

He added, "As the plant evolves and the project evolves there will be substantial gains in productivity.

"This will allow us to maintain our competitiveness, and any reduction in employees will be managed through natural turnover. The new production space will be used to produce Michelin Durable Technologies (MDT) retread tyres for the UK truck market.

Michelin was hit hard by the recession, as the downturn took its toll on road deliveries, but sales have picked up. Mr. Marsh said: "Across our range of tyres we are seeing an increased demand compared to 2010, and the market is actually quite buoyant."

Marangoni Opens Ringtread Plant in Kuwait City

Marangoni Retreading Systems has announce the opening of a Ringtread plant at Al-Zahem Industries in Kuwait; this comes after major upgrade work to much of the company's operations.

The inauguration, held on 23 March in Kuwait City, attracted a great deal of interest, with attendance by local government representatives, the Italian ambassador Enrico Granara, the Iraqi ambassador Mohammed Hussein Bahr Al-Ulum, the local press, the representatives of numerous transport fleets, Marangoni staff and management. Specifically, interest was shown by those present in the new technology installed and the machinery created and developed by Marangoni for the production of retreads using the RINGTREAD system.

The ITT 2500 shearographic inspection machine for nondestructive testing ensures quality retreads, in fact it identifies exactly which casings can be retreaded and those that need to be rejected, as breakages may occur if they were used for retreading. The Ringtreader 2500, the other machine installed, allows the ring to be centered on the casing in a simpler way, using a laser sensor to send data to the computer which drives the centering arm.

In addition to the equipment, Al Zahem Industries has also invested in training, so as to create a team of operators who are highly specialised in the repair and retreading of industrial tyres.

Efficiency, safety and quality are the three values that permeate every aspect of retreading at Al-Zahem Industries which have allowed the company to advocate retreaded tyres as valid alternatives to new ones. Al-Zahem Industries therefore believes that this partnership with Marangoni will represent a further important source of growth and profits, through the possibility to offer users an exclusive and high quality product with state-of-the-art Ringtread technology. The retreader's mission is, in fact, to help end users keep costs down by using highly reliable tyres that can guarantee improved efficiency and prevent the risk of vehicle downtime. This means that they do not sell "just" retreaded tyres. Mrs Haifa Abdulla Al-Zahem, General Manager of Al Zahem Industries, stated: "The partnership with Marangoni will provide our customers with the best that retreading has to offer: Ringtread is the only circular retread. It adheres perfectly to the tyre casing, without joints and any tension or deformation, while ensuring faster processing, less waste and performance which is the same as, if not higher, than that offered by a new tyre". Mrs Abdulla Al-Zahem continued: "The tests conducted have shown how Ringtread guarantees the same or even higher mileage compared to the original tread, reducing the cost per kilometre, decreasing vibrations, while at the same time giving greater balance, better heat dispersion and a tyre that looks exactly like the original one; moreover, with shearographic inspection we can now detect and identify any problems in the casing". With its highly strategic position and important port, Kuwait plays a significant role in the road transport business in the Middle East.

The country, at a crossroads between Saudi Arabia and Iraq, is home to large transport fleets, ranging from a minimum of 100 to over 4000 vehicles, which generate large sales volume for the replacement tyre market: retreads currently account for around 16.5% of this market, a share held by Al-Zahem, the only retreader operating in the area.

The partnership between Marangoni and Al-Zahem Industries has the initial objective of reaching a 30% share of the retreading market in the next 36 months, with clear benefits for the environment, as underlined by the Italian ambassador, Enrico Granara, during the inauguration.

Cuba to Open Modern Retread Plants

By the end of 2011, Cuba will have three modern tyre-retreading plants that will contribute to saving hard currency, an imperative need to mitigate the effects of the current international financial crisis. The director of the Union Nacional de Gomas (National Tyres Group), Rolando Alfonso Sanchez, told ACN that the facilities will be located in the provinces of Mayabeque, Santiago de Cuba and Camaguey. These plants will contribute to saving nearly 20 million dollars, and to lengthen the useful life of tyres, so essential for transporting loads and passengers.

Alfonso noted that despite the advantages of having enough tyres in good condition, some enterprises make no good use of them and have to replace them from the international market at very high prices. Cuba retreads only between 30 and 50 per cent of suitable casings; a very low figure for a tyre importing country.

According to data offered by the Union de la Goma, 90,000 tyres were retreaded last year, which saved the Cuban economy 13 million dollars. The general director of the Chemical Industry Business Group, Fidel Miranda, told ACN that retreading is a very good economic alternative because financial resources to buy new tyres are not always available. Miranda added that the existing five tyre-retreading plants in Cuba have the raw materials to continue their work.

New Chinese Plant for Goodway

Goodway Rubber has announced that it has opened a new retreading facility in China. Located at Nantong, near Shanghai, Big Wheel China has been designed as a model factory for Goodway's Supercool Franchise system, whereby the customer can personally visit to see and even try out the machines. The plant, which has a capacity of up to 3,400 tyres per month, is equipped with a full monorail system with integrated airline and electricity and is intended to be used as a training facility for Supercool franchisees.

The Retread Tire Association Offers C&G Courses in North America

The Retread Tire Association (RTA) is the exclusive agency in North America for the popular City and Guilds training course for retreaders, currently used in the United Kingdom and other parts of the world.

Since the American Retreaders Association closed its training centre in Louisville there has not been a training centre in North America dedicated to teaching employees of retread plants the finer points required to produce top quality retreads. Various franchisers such as Bridgestone Bandag and others do have limited training facilities available, but only to employees of their franchises.

"We have known about the City and Guilds program for years and have made a very thorough investigation as to its merits. We are convinced that this program offers an outstanding opportunity for retreaders who are serious about raising the quality of their employees, and they will consider it the next best thing to a handson training school (which no longer exists in North America for most companies). Major retreaders in the United Kingdom have high praise for the City and Guilds program," said Harvey Brodsky, RTA's Managing Director.

Richard O'Connell of RTA member Bandvulc in the UK is a very strong proponent and has this to say: "We are a strong supporter of the City and Guilds for retreading. The candidates study half in their time and half in our time. Anyone who passes the exam gets an extra £500 per year and this includes every one (office staff, drivers etc.) as we feel it helps generate commitment to the company and the industry. It is not an 'easy option' as the exam is quite demanding and requires a reasonable amount of study" Bandvulc is a very large, diversified and well established retreading company in the United Kingdom. It is doubtful if they would support the City and Guilds program if they didn't consider it extremely worthwhile. The RTA is offering this course in conjunction with the Retread Manufacturers Association (RMA) of the United Kingdom, which is a charter member of the RTA. The course is a self-study course, which begins in September and concludes with an exam in April. There are two mock exams during the course of the year to test the candidate's progress The RMA's Technical Manual is used as the course book. Each candidate receives a copy of this as part of the course fee.

The course can be taken by an individual as a complete self-study project. However, according to the RMA, what tends to happen with retreaders who have several candidates is that the factory manager has regular sessions with his candidates each week taking them through the book, according to the study timetable. In this way the companies can get the most out of the program and can apply what's in the book to situations within their own factory.

"In our experience the retreaders who put the most into the teaching sessions, tend to get the best results", commented the RMA. "We provide a commemorative plaque each year to the candidate with the best results. "In the UK we carry out the exams at a couple of centres - usually at the premises of our two largest retreaders, Bandvulc and Vacu-Lug. We have a similar situation in Malaysia with Kit Loong Group, who also run the exams in-house". Other individuals can choose to have the exam invigilated at a local university or technical college (invigilation fees at the candidates' expense).

RTA will be charging members a flat fee of $500 per candidate. Non-members of the Retread Tire Association will be charged $800 per candidate.

The FIA Bans Retreads in European Truck Racing

The FIA, the governing body of motorsport has announced a ban on the use of retreads in European truck racing. A rather difficult moment for Vipal, which has just decided to sponsor a competitor in European Truck Racing, but more importantly a blow to the image of retreading. Ruud Spuijbroek, secretary general of BIPAVER wrote to the FIA's Jean Todt expressing not just BIPAVER but global concern at the decision, pointing out that it contradicted previous statements supporting environmentally positive developments in motorsport. BIPAVER sought a meeting with the FIA to discuss the issue and clarify the reasoning behind the decision.

In response, Pierre de Coninck, the FIA's secretary general for sport stated, "... the banning of retreaded tyres in the European Truck Racing Championship was decided not during the last meeting of the World Motorsport Council but during the October 2009 meeting."

"The proposal approved by the World Council during the 8th of March consisted in formalising that previous decision taken and including it in the technical regulations so that from this season it will apply to not only those events comprising the FIA Championship but to all truck racing events in general." Coninck goes on to claim that this is about safety and points at the energy involved in an accident with one of these vehicles.

BIPAVER has in turn responded, thanking the FIA for its response, but pointing out that BIPAVER would still like to meet with the FIA to discuss the issues raised. The response touches on the environmental benefits of retreads but then comes to the technical points that support the use of retreads. Pointing to the creation of ECE Regulations 108 and 109 as European standards for retreads for both cars and trucks, both of which were transferred to European Regulations 2001/509 and 2001/507, respectively, later updated to 2006/433/EC, at which point BIPAVER press releases on retreads were supported by the FIA.

The letter goes on to highlight the move for retreaded tyres to comply with new tyre labelling regulations, 1222/2009/EC. Returning to the ban, Ruud questions the issue of safety and points out that most existing truck land speed records have been set on retreaded tyres - on the grounds of safety - a retread casing has been proven in use, not the case with new tyres. Given the announcement of the ban without any consultation with the retreading industry Spuijbroek concludes that the Executive Board of BIPAVER can only conclude that the FIA decision is politically motivated and states that BIPAVER remains open to discuss the issue.

It might appear to be a small volume of retreaded tyres that might be used in truck racing in Europe, but the FIA ban could be made global, but moreover the same arguments could also be used by the FIA against the use of retreaded tyres in other motorsports, which would have a serious impact on several retreading businesses that specialise in motorsport tyres. It would also have a cost implication on participants in motorsport, particularly those at the entry level of motorsport where new tyre costs can be a considerable barrier to participation. (It is also worth noting that some patterns available in some sectors are simply not provided by new tyre manufacturers).

Pneus Lanoraie Makes Progress Under New Ownership

For the past two years, Daniel Marleu, has been the owner of Pneus Lanoraie, a specialist firm for the repair and retreading of earthmover tyres based in Quebec.

Daniel, who bought the firm as a going concern said, "The difficult part was finding a suitable business to buy. However, once you make the jump to buy, you fall into the abyss. It isn't always easy to prove that you have the funds to make the purchase, that you are serious, or that you are ready to run with the process". The one time director of Bell Canada spent some considerable time looking for a small to medium enterprise with a well established clientele.

He approached accountants of the local centres of development, the directors of banks and in fact made dozens of requests for funding from the data bank of the manufacturing companies of ICRIQ.

Finally, he accessed funds through an intermediary of Fonds de Solidarité of the FTQ and the young electrical engineer was launched on the path to owning his own tyre company. The first step was a meeting with the then owner, André St-Jean.

Marleu says, "I knew nothing about tyres, but all the engineering elements of the machinery were of great interest to me."

The negotiations followed with the letters of intent, valuations and due diligence. The previous owner remained with the company for a period of 12 months to assist with technical and market knowledge. "I made great use of his presence and posed many questions about the business in that first year." adds Marleau, "I had to learn quickly in order to ensure that the business could continue after his departure. I relied to a great extent on the expertise of the existing team at this stage." Today, two years down the line Pneus Lanoraie is looking forward with the enthusiasm of a younger captain at the helm who is using new business strategies to create a strong role in the regional market for his tyre repair and retreading operation.

Snider Tire Opens Its Sixth MRT Plant

Snider Tire, Inc. produced its first retread at its sixth Michelin Retread Technologies (MRT) retread plant on April 21, located at its headquarters in Greensboro, N.C.

Snider Tire became an MRT franchisee in May 2009, starting with two MRT retread plants, and has opened or acquired four additional MRT plants during the past two years.

The Greensboro plant showcases the latest MRT process technology, which is unique in the retreading industry. MRT is claimed to be the only retreading process using X-ray casing inspection. MRT also claims to be the only retreading process using laser shearography nondestructive inspection on 100 percent of casings. The MRT process uses patented curing technology that provides highly consistent results from tyre to tyre. Its state of the art PLC controls have touch screen interfaces to reduce operator error and maximize consistency for fleet customers, according to the company.

"Snider Tire and MRT retreads are a great match for our customers," says John K. Snider, president and CEO of Snider Tire, Inc. "Since we started in 1976, our people have always been focused on providing our customers with the best possible products and services to help lower their operating costs."

"Snider Tire has long been recognized for the quality of its people and service to the fleets," said Francois Corbin, COO of Michelin Americas Truck Tires. "With its latest MRT plant, John Snider and his team will help us continue to improve the quality and consistency of MRT commercial truck services for fleet customers."

"Combining Snider Tire's service with MRT's advanced retread process and products will be a great complement to the franchise network," said Bill Guzick, vice president of business development for Michelin Americas Truck Tires. "Michelin's commitment to fleets is that they will never be out of reach of Michelin-certified service and products - including quality retreads. Snider Tire is a key component in that customer promise."

After 14 years of operations, the Michelin Retread Technologies Network has 44 franchise members with 78 retreading plants in North America.

Rubber Demand Ahead of Supply Says IRSG

If you thought that the recent flattening off of rubber prices as a result of the combined effect of the Japanese tsunami and a fall-off in Chinese car sales was a sign that the difficulties in the rubber market were at an end, you may have to think again.

In a speech delivered at the Opening Ceremony of Tyrexpo Asia in Singapore on 29 March, Dr Stephen Evans, Secretary General of the International Rubber study Group (IRSG) painted a picture of natural rubber demand continuing to outstrip supply combined with a projected squeeze on synthetic rubber availability. Further demand projections issued by IRSG and published in this month's Indian Rubber journal project significant increases in rubber consumption by tyre manufacturers between now and 2020, with the increase being fuelled largely by China. If you agree with the theory that high rubber prices mean an advantage for retreaders, then the effect on the overall retread market may well turn out to be positive, even if retreaders will not be enamoured by the continuing hikes in tread rubber prices.

According to Dr Evans, global demand in natural rubber outstripped production by half a million tonnes, the shortfall being made up out of existing stocks. This year, said Evans, demand will most likely be 11.2 million tonnes against a best case supply scenario of 10.9 million tonnes. What's more, said Evans, the situation was unlikely to change in the short term due to 7-10 year planning cycle required in natural rubber production (the time required for newly planted trees to mature) and the fact that there are a limited number of new trees coming to maturity in the next two years.

In his published report, however, Evans projects natural rubber supply to increase to 15.4 million tonnes by 2020, tyres making up 11.4 million tonnes of this.

The situation in synthetic rubber supply looks even less rosy. According to Evans, IRSG has historically assumed that monomer feedstocks and manufacturing capacity would be available on an unlimited basis going forward. However, says Evans, "based on recent market experience, with petrochemical cracker diets going lighter, butadiene supply being constrained, plus its price becoming uncoupled from traditional crude oil price drivers, this view must now be challenged".

Evans' figures show synthetic rubber capacity historically being in excess of demand, which was in line with production. However, they also show demand exceeding capacity by 2012 and a shortfall of 2 million tonnes per annum by 2020.

In terms of prices, Evans stressed that there were many question marks with regards to future price trends and the influence of processors and financial institutions over them. However, he did say that the current high natural rubber prices may stimulate a further rise in new planting, as last seen in the 2005- 2008 period, whilst adding that it is vital to understand the global oil-natural gas position and their impact on butadiene and synthetic rubber availability and price going forward.

Yusan Tire Forays into Retreading Machinery

Taiwan based Yu San Tire Co Ltd has entered into the manufacturing of retreading machinery. The retreading company was showcasing a buffer, curing and building machines at the Singapore Tyre Expo Asia.

"The show provides us with an opportunity to launch our retreading machinery. We are showcasing the machinery for the first time at any international show," informed Mr Chien Yuan Lee, Vice General Manager, Yu San Tire Co Ltd. The company seems upbeat on the response received at the premier tyre show in Asia. "We have received a positive response on the very first day of the show. We hope to close a few deals in the next few months," he claimed. Yu San Tire Co retreads around 120,000 to 150,000 tyres annually. The company also manufactures patches as well as tread rubber to feed its retreading operation. When queried about plans of hiking its retreading capacity, Lee said, "We could hike the retreading capacity only if we hike the production of tread rubber also. Currently, we are focussing on the new retreading machinery business and we will take some time to stabilize the new business," he explained. The forty year old company imports natural rubber from Indonesia while sourcing synthetic rubber from the domestic market.

Inmetro Certifies Retreading Sector in Brazil

Brazilian retreading factories are racing against time to adapt to the requirements of the Inmetro Certification of Compliance for tyre retreading. Companies developing in this business sector will have two years to conform to legislation passed in November 19, 2010 by Inmetro (National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality) No. 444. After this period, they will be subject to inspection visits from the regulatory authorities. Marangoni is amongst the leaders in this regard, and in addition to guiding its authorised dealers in the Inmetro Certification process by participating actively in the adaptation to new demands, it has already voluntarily met with some of the standards.

"For some time now, Marangoni has been preparing its network of Authorized Retreaders. We believe that this certificate offers a differential for us and the benefit will be for everyone. We have all the necessary support and are 100 per cent prepared to meet these standards, "says the commercial director of Pliny Luca.

Some authorized Marangoni retreaders have already anticipated and adhered to the certification process of tyre retreading with the support of its supplier. Fabiano Santos, manager of Marangoni Products Brazil, who is ahead of the group's initiative to encourage and support the certification asserts that despite the investment required to meet the requirements of Inmetro, the Certificate is already a big differentiator. "The certified company can assure an improvement in retreading that, besides benefiting the market, offers products of higher quality, manufactured with cutting-edge equipment and sustainable methods. This difference should and will attract new customers. Therefore, we encourage our authorized retreaders to comply with the new law, "he says. The certification is valid for two years and must be renewed at the end of that period. Among the benefits of certification is the ability for the consumer to select the best retreaders, ensuring greater safety and better product quality.

Retreaders will be inspected initially, according to ABNT - NBR NM 224 and 225, which is the JULGAM minimum criteria for the selection of tyres for retreading and repairing, as well as the performance of the casing to be retreaded and or its condition for repairing. Those who meet the standards established by Inmetro, will receive the certification and be allowed to continue, those who don't will have to cease trading.