ERJ Top 10 Stories of the Week (9 - 13 March)

Rubber pricing declines on weak market sentiment

London - Physical and futures rubber markets in Asia continued on a downward track in the week of 2-6 March. Read more

Michelin to expand Hungary plant, target 18” tire market

Clermont-Ferrand, France –  Michelin Group is making a €40-million investment in its manufacturing plant in Nyíregyháza, Hungary, where its “ultra-high performance” passenger car tires are produced.  Read more

Singapore Exchange to set up rubber bourse

Singapore – The Singapore Exchange (SGX) is in preliminary talks to be part of a regional rubber exchange that would bring together the top three natural rubber producing nations.  Read more

Hefei Wanli breaks ground at tire-plant site

Hefei Wanli, a joint venture between Guangzhou Fengli Tire & Rubber and local automotive maker JAC, held a ground-breaking ceremony for its 2 million/year all-steel tire plant in Hefei, Anhui province on 12 Feb.  Read more

Mesnac, Bosch Rexroth strike “strategic” partnership

China-based machinery manufacturer, Mesnac, has signed a cooperation agreement with Bosch Rexroth on the development of drive & control technology for the rubber and tire industries. (Read more)

Comment: The way forward for ‘recovered carbon black’

Jacob Peled of Pelmar Engineering comments on a report titled ‘Recovered carbon black making its mark’ in ERJ’s Nov/Dec 2014 issue. Peled, executive chairman of Israeli-based Pelmar Engineering Ltd says that the “absolute majority” of tire people are longing for a substitute to carbon black and particularly pyrolysis derived fillers. (Read more)

 UAE set to enforce RFID tire labelling rules

After several months of delay the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is set to implement regulations requiring that all tires imported into the country are fitted with RFID tread labels. Ferm RFID Solutions, specialist in RFID solutions tire industry, and have developed an integrated RFID tag that can be vulcanised inside the tire. (Read more)

ERJ Survey: Readers back Audi call for more supplier input

ERJ readers have backed a call for tire makers to bring their suppliers in on discussions with automotive OEs around the development of tires for new vehicle models. According to feedback, this would help speed up the development process and overcome many current technical challanges. (Read more)

Mixed trend in NR markets despite producers’ meeting

Rubber markets were expected to bounce back after the Chinese New Year holiday (18-25 Feb), but a mixed trend was observed as TOCOM rubber futures hit an 11-month high on 2 March and Shanghai rubber futures declined. (Read more)

ERJ People Tracker

Kumho Tire Europe… Toyo Tire North America… Mitas International… Falken Tyres… Vystar… Bayer MaterialScience… ContiTech NAFTA… Smithers  Read more