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USA
Chinese Truck Tyres: Are They Any Good?
manufacturers are paying attention to the needs of their markets around the world and they know that unless they continually improve their quality they will be quickly shut out of very profitable markets worldwide." Says Harvey.
"I have visited China twice in the past few years and have toured two very modern tyre plants, both of which impressed me with their attention to high quality. In October of 2010 I had the opportunity in Shanghai to be with some of the top people of the largest truck tyre manufacturers in China and I came away impressed at their strong dedication to become known as the
currently produces or is getting ready to produce truck tyres in China. They wouldn’t be there – spending hundreds of millions of dollars in new plants – if they didn’t believe top quality truck tyres can and will be produced in China."
The number of Chinese manufactured tyres of quality is increasing and China is increasingly a point of investment for manufacturers who either set up plants or engage in partnerships with Chinese manufacturers to produce some big name brands such a Cooper, GiTi and Hankook.
In fact, Hankook produced the first SmartWay Verified truck tyre, the TL01, produced in
China and sold in the United States. Hankook is very proud to have two established tyre manufacturing facilities in China using environmentally friendly procedures - with a third plant recently breaking ground.
"Many of us who are of a certain age can remember when
“made in Japan” meant that you would be buying junk. Those days are long gone and today Japanese products, from tyres to TVs, are among the best in the world."
All the major players are now involved in China
Chinese manufactured products have been challenging traditional markets in almost every area of commerce, but perhaps especially so in the tyre sector where new Chinese tyres have often been as cheap as or cheaper than retreads. That price clash has created difficulties for retreaders and new tyre dealers alike. The redeeming factor has largely been that many Chinese tyres simply could not stand up to the test of time. They had a high number of faults, they ran less miles and often they could not be retreaded. Retreading Business predicted that this would only be the case until Chinese manufacturing caught up with western technology and indeed the Chinese economy caught up with western economies. Other commentators said that it would take China fifty years to come close, we reckoned ten.
Well, already the Chinese economy is the most powerful in the world and market analysts and financiers are all
too aware that the future
of the global economy lies
largely in the hands of the
Chinese; the US many
trillions in debt and on the brink of bankruptcy according to some commentators is no longer the financial rock it used to be.
Add to this the fact that Chinese quality in many areas has rapidly caught up with western quality and the dynamics of the tyre market are changing fast. According to the Retread Tyre Association, two Chinese manufacturers in particular have made their mark in the USA with good quality tyres, Double Coin and the relatively recently formed Sailun Tyre Co.
According to the RTA's Harvey Brodsky, both of these companies have gone to great lengths to improve their quality and to build into their casings the high quality materials that will allow their tyres to be ver y retreadable.
"The Chinese truck tyre
manufacturers of top quality truck tyres, and nothing less!"
"Practically every major name in truck tyre manufacturing, including Bridgestone, Goodyear and Michelin
Mixed Messages on Rubber
Investor analysts are predicting a collapse in the global trading economy, but then again they have been making that prediction since they predicted the boom that China entering the WTO would bring. Analysts such as Wiess predict falling commodity prices as China enters a predicted recession, and at the same time they warn of the USA defaulting on its debts, triggering a global recession of unprecedented calamity. It is all doom and gloom. Yet, China's demand for raw materials remains insatiable and if
there is a recession on its way someone seems to have forgotten to tell Chinese industry as their demand continues to drive up prices of raw materials.
Tyre manufacturers are increasing prices by leaps and bounds, Bridgestone's latest 10 per cent plus increase just leading the way. Malaysian markets for rubber are, according to Bernama, "holding steady", but demand remains high and prices are expected to continue rising with no end in sight.
48 Retreading Business
Vianor and Rema Tip Top Global Cooperation
On the 30th of May Vianor Holding Oy entered into a Preferred Supplier Agreement with Rema Tip Top GmbH, the supplier of tyre shop machiner y, equipment and consumables and a world-leading expert in tyre repair technologies. The signed agreement guarantees Vianor the access to Rema Tip Top products and services throughout the current operating territor y of Vianor. The cooperation enables
Vianor to develop the level of its core operations and services to end customers even further in Vianor own equity and partner networks. The cooperation between Vianor and Rema Tip Top will be launched in the Scandinavian countries during the second half of 2011 and it shall be expanded gradually to Central and Eastern European countries during 2012 and 2013.