Tyre makers extend seasonal shutdowns

By Ross Dempsey, ERJ staff

In the face of continuing economic turmoil and significant drops in demand across the automotive industry a number of rubber companies and, in particular, tyre manufacturers are scaling down production over the holiday period.

“The severe slow down in demand during the second half of 2008 has affected all tyre manufacturers and has caused a build up of inventories,” a spokesperson for Bridgestone told ERJ in a written statement. “The extended shutdowns are intended to bring a better balance into the supply chain. We cannot forecast what the 2009 demand will be so we have to monitor the situation closely.”

Bridgestone is closing the following plants over December and January:

The company did not give exact closure dates.

Michelin is adopting a different approach to plant closures over the holiday season. “We are really operating on a day-to-day basis at the moment, the situation is changing so need to be able to adapt quickly,” a Michelin spokesperson told ERJ. The company conceded that there would be some necessary temporary shut-downs commenting, “obviously there has been a slowdown in demand which has lead to some temporary action in the last weeks of the year, however we do not have a complete list as we are operating on a day-to-day basis,” the spokesperson added.

A Goodyear spokesperson told ERJ that the company's plants in EMEA (Europe, Asia, Middle East and Africa) will cease production on the 18 or 19 Dec and are planned to resume production 7 Jan onwards.

“We have extended the end of year break to match production with customer demand during the current challenging economic environment,” the spokesperson commented.

Apollo Tyres Ltd currently has a lockout situation at its plant, owned by PTL Enterprises, in Kalamassery, Kochi, Kerala, India. The plant shut down 6 Dec, affecting 1100 employees. The shutdown was caused by “workmen resisting management efforts to increase efficiency and bring down costs, during these times of economic stress and demand slowdown,” the company said in a 6 Dec statement.

“Talks are going on to work towards an early resolution,” said an Apollo Tyres spokesperson in a written statement.

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