Foreign information collection and editing

■Michelin plans to invest 300 million euros (about 2.338 billion yuan) in Thailand in the next three years to increase production capacity. So far, Michelin has invested more than 1 billion euros in Thailand, with five factories and 8,000 workers.

■On March 11, the Indian Ministry of Finance's Tax Bureau announced that the anti-subsidy measures on pneumatic tires for trucks and buses originating in or imported from China will be extended to July 23, 2024 (inclusive). The Indian customs tariff number of the product involved is 40112010.

■Yokohama issued an announcement at the beginning of this month, announcing that from May 1, its passenger car products (excluding winter tires) will be adjusted in price, and the increase is expected to be between 3% and 6%. The company said that this adjustment is based on rising raw material prices and increased production costs. In order to ensure product quality and continuous service, price increases have to be taken.

■International tire giant Michelin recently announced a price increase plan. From April 1, 2024, Michelin will adjust the prices of its motorcycle tires City Grip 2 series and City Extra series, with an expected average increase of 4%. Michelin mentioned in a statement that in the face of continued cost pressure, the company has tried various cost control measures, but still cannot fully absorb these increased costs, so it has made the decision to increase prices to ensure that it can continue to provide consumers and customers with high-quality products and services.

■ Recently, HF Compounding Group, a world-renowned designer and manufacturer of mixing equipment, announced that it has further strengthened its market position in the country through the full acquisition of its subsidiary in India. The acquisition marks the deepening of HF Compounding Group's strategy in the Indian market, aimed at promoting the company's continued growth and consolidating its market leadership.

■ Germany's Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAPR) has launched a three-year innovation project dedicated to the development of new sustainable bio-based raw materials for the production of synthetic rubber. This move marks the rubber production industry's move towards a more environmentally friendly and sustainable direction. The total investment reached 3.25 million euros, aiming to develop a new rubber material to meet the needs of products such as car tires. The core of the project is to use bio-alcohol to produce rubber monomers, including butadiene, isoprene and dimethyl butadiene, which often rely on petrochemical raw materials in previous production.

■The Continental Tire Retreading Development Center in Rock Hill, South Carolina, USA was officially announced by Continental Americas of Germany recently. This center will become an important base for tire retreading process improvement and technology research and development, aiming to provide partners with more advanced retreading solutions through innovation.

Domestic Information Collection and Editing

▲Jiangsu General Motors issued an announcement to actively promote the construction of the Thailand Phase II project, Cambodia Phase II project, 6 million semi-steel tire technical transformation project and 100,000 engineering tire technical transformation project in China, which will be launched in 2023. In the future, it will further promote the site selection and construction of new overseas production bases around the "5X Strategic Plan". At the same time, it will increase investment in scientific and technological research and development, introduce high-level research and development talents, and achieve new breakthroughs in high-wear-resistant tubeless, secondary heavy-duty tires, engineering tires, new energy green tires, and large-size high-performance passenger car tires.

▲ Hankook Tire (Jiaxing) plans to invest 150 million yuan to implement intelligent technology transformation on the second production line, and comprehensively optimize the process, equipment and personnel configuration. The transformation project is scheduled to be completed and put into production in August.

▲ The land application for the Fujian Junchi all-steel radial tire production project is in progress, and the land supply is expected to be completed by the end of August. The project was signed in February this year with a total investment of 1.2 billion yuan.

▲ Jianda Tianxia Group established a project with an annual output of 15 million tires based on the original factory building of Jilin Jixing Tire. A new production line for passenger car and truck tires will be added, with an annual output of 15 million tires. After reaching full production, the annual output value will reach 3 billion yuan, and more than 500 new employees can be employed. It is planned to start construction in the first half of the year.

▲On March 27, at the 19th China Rubber Annual Conference, Yuan Zhongxue, director of the National Rubber Center and honorary chairman of Sailun Group, announced the sustainable development goals of Sailun Group: the content of sustainable materials in tire products will increase to 40% in 2030 and 100% in 2050; by 2030, the energy consumption per unit product will be reduced by 30% compared with 2022; by 2030, the carbon emissions per unit product will be reduced by 30% compared with 2022.

▲  On March 26, Qingdao Doublestar Co., Ltd. is planning to issue shares and pay cash to purchase all property shares of Qingdao Xingtou Equity Investment Fund Center (Limited Partnership), 0.0285% equity of Qingdao Xingwei International Investment Co., Ltd. and raise supporting funds, so as to finally realize the company's holding of 45% of Kumho Tire Co., Inc.'s shares and resolve competition in the same industry. The company's shares will be suspended from the opening of the market on March 26, 2024, and the suspension is expected to last no more than 10 trading days.

▲Huami New Materials' annual performance report shows that in 2023, it achieved operating income of 400 million yuan, a year-on-year (the same below) increase of 19.35%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was 51.8809 million yuan, an increase of 21.69%.

▲The annual performance report of Black Cat Co., Ltd. shows that in 2023, the operating income was 9.451 billion yuan, a year-on-year (the same below) decrease of 4.47%. By product, carbon black was 8.044 billion yuan, a decrease of 5.75%, accounting for 85.11% of total revenue; tar refined products were 1.029 billion yuan, an increase of 12.81%; white carbon black was 190 million yuan, a decrease of 15.08%. The net profit attributable to shareholders of the listed company was a loss of about 243 million yuan.

▲Pulin Chengshan's annual performance report shows that in 2023, the operating income was 9.949 billion yuan, a year-on-year (the same below) increase of 22%, and the net profit reached 1.033 billion yuan, an increase of 162.4%. During the reporting period, the total sales volume of tires was 25.03 million, an increase of 35.1%. Among them, the sales volume of all-steel radial tires was 8.1 million, an increase of 20.5%; the sales volume of semi-steel radial tires was 16.4 million, an increase of 42.7%; and the sales volume of bias tires was 480,000, an increase of 76.4%.

▲Recently, the Central Committee approved: Comrade Zhang Liqun was appointed as the president (vice-ministerial level) and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Xi'an Jiaotong University; Comrade Wang Shuguo no longer served as the president and deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Xi'an Jiaotong University.

▲Shandong Superior Rubber Technology Co., Ltd. started construction and laid the foundation for the annual production of 12 million sets of ultra-high-performance environmentally friendly passenger car tires and 3 million sets of green intelligent load-bearing tires in Zhucheng High-tech Zone. The project is the first large-scale tire project registered in Shandong Province in 2024. It will be invested by Qingdao Xingbiao Rubber Technology Co., Ltd. with 5.16 billion yuan and built in two phases. It is expected that after the project is put into production, it can achieve an annual output value of 4.28 billion yuan and pay 160 million yuan in taxes.

▲The 70,000 tons/year petrochemical residue oil production high-performance carbon black industrial demonstration project with a total investment of about 470 million yuan by Sinochem Quanzhou Petrochemical was successfully completed and handed over on March 10, and is expected to be put into trial operation at the end of March.

▲The main building of the 500 million A meter rubber V-belt and transmission intelligent production line project built by Zhejiang Sanlishi Intelligent Transmission Technology Co., Ltd. in Tiantai has been basically completed. It is expected to complete the trial production of the first production line in April. After full production, the annual output value is expected to reach 800 million to 900 million yuan.

▲The main building of the 500 million A meter rubber V-belt and transmission intelligent production line project built by Zhejiang Sanlishi Intelligent Transmission Technology Co., Ltd. in Tiantai has been basically completed. It is expected to complete the trial production of the first production line in April. After full production, the annual output value is expected to reach 800 million to 900 million yuan.

▲The Shanxi Longxing Carbon-based New Materials Circular Economy Industry Project is expected to achieve the goal of trial production by the end of May this year. The total investment of the project is 3.1 billion yuan, and it is planned to build 6 high-purity nano carbon black production lines with an annual production capacity of 400,000 tons, and 2 sets of 35MW ultra-high temperature and ultra-high pressure steam power generation units. It is estimated that the annual output value of the project will reach 3.5 billion yuan after it is put into production.