Heavy Treaddin’

Commentary on the State of the OTR Tire Market from BuyBigTires.com

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This Is What Happens When You Go On Vacation

December 2nd, 2008 by admin
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Hi, everyone. I am back from a much needed vacation, and am ready to roll. It seems like the good stuff always takes place when you are out of touch for a little bit.

Titan, it seems, had a little bit of a mishap with one of their giant tire curing machines last week. The pressure evidently was set a little on the high side, and blew up the massive contraption. Modern Tire Dealer states in their report that there were no serious injuries, but it did severely damage a part of the building it was housed in. The plant was shut down around the 24th of November, and will reopen in around two weeks.

In other reports, it seems Apollo, the Indian tire maker who made their expansion into S. Africa this year, is eyeing the Giant OTR Market as a fertile field. Reports state that Apollo will begin manufacture of 63″ OTR sometime next year. Hopefully, they will have a few less hiccups than Titan when they begin production.

Lastly, and certainly not least, it seems American Tire Distributors is launching a new, online service to compete with the likes of TireRack.com and Wal-Mart. The service will be known as TireBuyer.com. We wish them well in their pursuits…and..ermmmm…lawsuits. Online passenger tire sales is a crowded market, and the margins become more and more slim as the days go buy. Here’s hoping they can wiggle a little more profit out of the venture.

That’s all I have for now…stay tuned, as we continue to bring you the best news we can find on the tire markets.

Signing off….

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Who Wants To Sell Hugo Chavez Tires?

November 6th, 2008 by admin
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This morning, it came to light that Hugo Chavez has taken over Venezuela’s largest gold mine.  It was previously mined and operated by Crystallex Canada, according to the AP Report. While this is not surprising, given that Venezuela is governed by a Socialist Despot, the manner in which he did it is rather instructive.

You see, he took away Crystallex’s mining rights by refusing to reissue their environmental permits. This stunningly passive-aggressive move allows him to wage war on two fronts:

  1. He gets to further his agenda of eliminating private industry.
  2. He can proclaim himself a champion of the environment.

In both of these arguments, he can decree that he is the good guy. He took away the unjust profits of private industry, and returned the wealth to the people. He is also eliminating a major polluter, since his obviously unbiased regulatory team failed to renew Crystallex’s permits.

This isn’t the first time that Chavez has pulled this stunt, as he previously took over the telephone companies, oil, and steel industries. It should have even been expected, as most of his social programs have been funded by oil profits. With the dropping price of oil, he had to make up the difference somewhere.

Why is this important? Well, the environment is a big issue worldwide. The economic chaos is causing budget deficits on a global scale. Who can profess to know whether or not some of these other mining centric countries won’t seize mines from private industry to prop up slumping treasuries? What’s keeping them from drumming up a pollution charge to evict private interests, or shut down mining altogether?

The answers are, respectively: “No one.” and “Nothing, really.”

We are almost certain to see further expansion of government in the environmental arena in the US, under the Obama administration. With his adversarial approach to coal fired power plants, and the philosophy of a “cap and trade” tax scheme as part of his platform, the mining industry is sure to be among the first affected. From there, it is just a short jump to government-owned mines as part of an effort to “end global warming”. We’ve already saved banks, why not do something good for the planet? So the argument will go, and along with it, true economic freedom.

So there you go. We’ll be here to keep you abreast of the latest news.

‘Til then, we’ll be…

Signing off…..

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American Tire Corporation: The Saga Continues

October 30th, 2008 by admin
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Well, folks. I’ve checked the server logs, and our posts on ATC are our most popular ever. Rarely a day goes by that I don’t check the logs and see someone down in Greenville, SC( it literally says Michelin when I check the ip address) reading our little posts here, or get a glimpse of someone at Goodyear checking us out. We’d just like to say “Hi” back. Glad you like us, sort of.

So, it seems time to put the bookends on the American Tire Corporation saga. Thanks to Jim Smith over at the One Way Street Blog ( who was kind enough to give our original post a plug) and a new reader(who took our suspicions to the next level) we’ve finally been able to get a clear picture of what is happening. ( In case you need an update on what is going on, you can get background information here and here. We’ll wait for you, I promise.)

Edit: Update- Bruce Davis wrote an excellent piece in the October Edition of Tire Business regarding American Tire Distributors vs. American Tire Corporation case. I couldn’t find a separate version of the piece online, so I have linked to the full issue here. (The article starts at the bottom of the first page)It contains an excellent look into the mindset of ATC, and the merits of American Tire Distributors’ case.

First, Mr. Smith gives us the rundown of what is going on in his post:

Shadow Dancing
October 24, 2008
Speaking of straight talk, our friends at American Tire Corp. have apparently made a real, actual, verified move toward building their $500 million OTR tire plant.
The self-proclaimed U.S. government-supported American tire manufacturer, plunked down a $40,000 non-refundable deposit for 96 acres in Ephrata, Wash., according to the Columbia Basin Herald.
If you’re looking for Ephrata on a map, it is in the eastern third of the state, just north of I-90.
For those who have followed the torrid tale of this “tire plant,” the parcel in Ephrata is slightly smaller than the nearly 1,000 acres ATC claimed to have bought back in August.
At least this land purchase is attached to an actual place.
Total bill for the parcel? $960,000. No timetable for the plant or site plan or really anything has been revealed. Oh, and ATC will apparently now call itself Washington Tire Corp. At least in Washington.

Sooooo…where to begin…

Okay, they’ve put 40 G’s down on a parcel 1/10th the size of what they have always claimed. They still haven’t closed on the land, but production was supposed to be in full swing by the first of the year. Riiigghht. Well, they have certainly made strides. By my reckoning, all they have to do is get the remaining $499,960,000 together (and pay all applicable state taxes). Then, they just have to hire technicians and engineers, and move the equipment in, allowing them to bathe in waterfalls of money.

Oh, and they will now be calling themselves “Washington Tire Corporation”, inside of the state of Washington. This is going to get confusing. Nevermind, it already is.

Giving credit where credit is due, one of our new readers brought Mr. Smith’s post to our attention, and also had this to add:

Thanks for your Blog…I’m a new reader today.

I went looking for American Tire Corporation to try and sell  our product.

We are a rubber mixing plant and are looking for companies who need a large a company such as ours that can supply large amounts of material with a short turn around.

Abraham did respond to my inquiry he said they use…

“We need about 130,000 metric tons of mixed rubber annually. Please kindly let us know what you can do for our demand”.

That’s a lot of rubber! So I called and got the he’s busy a couple times so, I went looking for the manufacturing facility in WA. I learned they ATC has been looking and has an offer in on some land in Grant County but, no construction is in progress. I can forward information and contacts I have made today if you’re interested, as for me… I think ATC is years away from manufacturing in WA.

My brother in-law lives in Chino Hills about 6 miles from…

American Tire Corp.

13872 Magnolia Ave Chino, CA

91710

As listed in Washington State Department of Revenue, I have this link too…

I’ve asked him to stop by and see what’s what…from what I can see from goggle maps aerial view is this is nothing but a store front(emphasis added).

I’ve got nothing against storefronts. Our office used to be a storefront(with a tire yard located off-premises). However, my company is not claiming to build a $500 M compound.

Well, folks, that pretty much does it. We are finally rendering our verdict. ATC is full of it. They have been since before they made their offer on Goodyear’s Topeka plant. They are now, and will be for the remaining future.

We’ll let you know when you can take off your hip waders. Until then, I’ll be…

Signing off…

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Titan Gets An Unfair Smackdown

October 29th, 2008 by admin
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Look everyone, I know the markets are in trouble. I know that your 401K has probably dropped 30% in the past few weeks. But seriously. Titan near 10 bucks a share. This is an outrageous bargain.

Let me state for the record that Morry Taylor and I aren’t best buddies. I would cautiously call him someone I have a begrudging respect for. With an extra side of begrudge.

They’ve just had an incredible quarter, though. At least, that is what the numbers are showing. The best the market seems to be able to award him is an $.80 cent share increase.  I tell you what I am not going to say though: “Buy Titan stock before the election.” Nope. Not going to say it, noway in the world I’m going to say it.  Not going to say they have great cash flow, and a good strategy for the market.

Not going to say they’ve worked out their kinks, and sold off the first run that had minor mistakes, and that now they are quite possibly producing some really good stuff. You will not hear that from me.

What you do on your time is your own business. Do your research.

If you have any questions, we’ll be right here.

Until then, I’ll be…

Signing off…

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Morry Taylor Gets 4 More Years

October 14th, 2008 by admin
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Even though “The Grizz” failed in his bid for President several years back, it has not kept him from being elected to another 4 year term as Chairman of Titan International (TWI-Click for current stock price).

Their current COO, Ernie Rodia, will be retiring, and will be replaced shortly. He will remain on the payroll as a consultant, according to reports issued by Titan. He has been credited with leading the charge on Titan’s production of super-Giant radials.

With Titan stock( and indeed, plenty of other stocks) in a freefall, Titan will need a steady hand at the wheel. It will be interesting to see who the bring on to replace Mr. Rodia. He had spent 37 years with Goodyear before his defection to Titan. We wonder if they will hire someone equally experienced to replace him. They would almost have to, in order to keep confidence with investors.

We’ll keep you up-to-date on the details as they emerge.

‘Till then, we’ll be…

Signing off…

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Goodyear Shuts Down Tire Line For A 3rd Week This Year

October 13th, 2008 by admin
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Goodyear is shutting down their radial truck tire line in Topeka, KS for an entire week, starting today. The weakness in the economy and consumer demand were cited as reasons for the weeklong cessation of operations.

OTR Tire lines will be unaffected by the shutdown. The same goes for the lines that manufacture military tires. 500 employees will be temporarily out of work, and the line should reopen next week, running at full production capacity.

This particular line was shut in March of this year, and again in September. Hurricane Ike was the reason given for the shutdown then.

We’ll continue to keep you updated on news of interest in these tight times.

Stay tuned…

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Should We Believe American Tire Corporation ?

September 29th, 2008 by admin
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Okay, I just recently received yet another piece of propaganda Press Release from American Tire Corporation. While I don’t really want to pick on them yet again, they leave me no choice.

This one evidently has not yet been released to the wire services, but is floating around in emails to tire dealers around the nation.

I’m going to let you read it, and then I’ll give you my take on it(full text follows below):

American Tire Corporation Makes Success at MINExpo 2008

American Tire Corporation has signed contracts for 500 million US dollars of giant tires during its presence at MINExpo 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. This success is a positive feedback to zero failure history and longer job performance of most sizes of ATC’s giant OTR tire from 29″ up to 63″.

Chino California – Thursday, September 25, 2008 — American Tire Corporation (ATC) is pleased to announce that ATC has made a great success at MINExpo International 2008 held in Las Vegas, Nevada from September 22 to 24, 2008

At this year’s MINExpo, although ATC’s competitors vandalized ATC’s booth #10006 on the Eve of MINExpo, ATC still makes a great success. ATC has signed contracts for more than 500 millions dollars. Some more contracts with similar value are expected to be finalized in October.Meanwhile, the following are notable

All four (4) giant tire manufacturers presented their 63″ tires. Among them, ATC’s 63″ tires are the only tires keeping zero failure history globally. The others are Michelin, Bridgestone and Titan.

Totally three (3) giant tire manufacturers presented their 57″ radial tires. Among them, only ATC displayed 40.00R57 tires which are the most popular in the present OTR tire world. The others are Michelin and Bridgestone.

Sponsored by National Mining Association, MINExpo International is held every four years. This is the first time ATC has attended. With the objective to become the largest and best manufacturer for 63″ and 57″ tires, American Tire Corporation is a US government-supported OTR tire manufacturer with operations in different US states and other countries. ATC has created several “firsts” in the OTR tire industry. For more information, please check its website (link to ATC Website).

Ok, so here’s the deal: First of all, they claim a zero failure history. Zero. Then, they throw off on the other tire companies for having a failure rate higher than zero. Now, my first question when people start throwing out big or small numbers is to ask “Where are they getting this from?” If you want to say this in press release, you should probably show us the data, or provide a link to a place where we can get it.

There is none of that here. The next question would be be ” In what period of time have you had a zero failure record?” 2 weeks? Months? Years? ATC is the new kid on the block. Everybody else has had ample time to fail. Zero failure on their part is a statistical impossibility. ATC’s claim is akin to me saying my car has never broken down, and neglecting to mention that I just bought it yesterday.

Then they say that they have signed 500 Million in contracts. Isn’t it highly coincidental that they will be paying that same amount for their facility in WA? If you’re going to give me a number, give me something that doesn’t say “I got these numbers from our accountant. His name is Santa Claus.”

They go on to make another outrageous claim. Their 57 inch tires are the most popular in the OTR World? That is a shocker to me. Maybe they just live in an alternate reality, where ATC is this amazing tire manufacturer, with this incredible product line of tires that cannot fail and run for 12,000 hours. The  rest of us have not yet passed into this glorious dimension.

To top it all off, they claim that their booth was vandalized by their competitors. Really? So this is high school, and someone gave ATC the corporate version of a “swirly”? What qualifies as vandalism? Did somebody leave a Butterfinger wrapper beside their booth? Would somebody please tell people that when they make claims they should bother to tell us exactly what happened?

Look, everybody loves an underdog, especially here in America. However, everybody hates a poser, and that is exactly what ATC comes across as: Someone who acts like they are a big deal, and says they have done or will do all these things, and in the end is just so much hot air.

If they want to change their image, and be respected, ATC needs to answer these charges. Until then, they will just be a laughingstock. They are more than welcome to submit actual proof of their claims. Until then, I will go on assuming they are…ummm…misrepresenting their importance.

I’m signing off..

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Why Disasters Help The OTR Tire Industry

September 18th, 2008 by admin
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Let me start off this post by sending our sympathies and prayers to our friends and clients located in Texas and Louisiana. Living here in NC has given us just a taste of what you are experiencing right now.

Now, lets move on to a purely academic look at what the past two weeks have brought us:

1. The third most costly Hurricane in US history.

2. The rapid collapse of banks all over the world.

3. Huge shifts in the political landscape worldwide.

How does this help the OTR industry? Let’s start with the obvious: It’s going to take some serious equipment to clean up and rebuild the Galveston/Houston area. The equipment is going to be on exceedlingly rough terrain, and extreme stress. Tire failure is an inevitability under these conditions, and you’ll see demand in everything from skid-steer tires and tracks, to front-end loader tires go up in demand.

Bank failure doesn’t seem to be good news for anyone, and I’m not particularly thrilled about it, either. However, many investors will be hopping on the gold bus in the days ahead. This means that mines are going to buy more equipment, and run more shifts than they have been to take advantage of the rising price of precious metals. It looks like a future international currency is a given, along with massive inflation. People will be buying gold as a way to keep their current assets from devaluation, and hold it until things eventually settle down.

Now this one is an odd perspective, I know. What in the world could brand new leadership in foreign nations have to do with the OTR industry? Well, no new leader in the history of time has ever been able to resist the urge to remake God in his own image. Whenever there is a leadership change, no matter how poor the country, someone decides to build a build a monument, or a stadium, or several of them for his legacy’s sake. This is not likely to stop anytime soon. We all know that remodeling an old, former leader’s structure just won’t cut it. There will be new construction. End of story.

So there you go. You’ll have to excuse me. I have to run if I’m going to make the gold bus.

Signing off…

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Who is American Tire Corporation?

September 15th, 2008 by admin
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That’s the question I’ve been asking myself since I first heard of them. It was an abrupt introduction, when I stumbled onto their first press release last winter. It sticks in my mind, mainly because I asked most of the salesmen about them, and none of them had heard of them.

The guys in this office are fairly well connected, and for them to have never heard of a company who claimed the stature and size that ATC did  bothered me a bit. With each press release, my curiosity about the company and its chairman, Dr. Abraham Hengyucius became more aggravated.

Flash forward to today. My mind had been tortured long enough. I took the time to browse through the latest press release announcing their intent to manufacture their own molds for their Giant tires, and took a short jump over to their website. Once there, I found a few interesting things:

1. Details about the purchase of land, and building of their supposed plant in the state of WA.

2. Their offer to pay OTR Tire engineers 150-200% of their current pay to come over to ATC.

The second one caught my eye, due to the legal implications of bringing an Engineer from Bridgestone or Michelin to work for your company. Most companies today have non-disclosure, non-compete, and/or trade secret agreements in place, and this would go double for people who have hands-on manufacturing experience. The hiring of one or more of this type of employee would inevitably bring a legal challenge to ATC, and tie them up in the courts for a year or two. This bears mentioning, due to what a Google search for their chairman brought up.

The first result for Dr. Abraham Hengyucius brings up this result . He is mentioned as the Sales Manager for  American Seashores International. It also doesn’t mention that he is a doctor here, although that is not really a problem, it does seem a bit odd, as he is always mentioned as holding a Ph.D. elsewhere. We do know American Seashores International, as we spoke to them back during the beginning of the OTR Tire Shortage. They basically are/were a company committed to importing Chinese goods into the US, and are also listed as a marketer of private label brands. Their website is offline now, but thanks to the magic of the internet archive, we are able to reproduce it. You can view it by clicking here . This will be important, as I will show you in a second.

What does this have to do with American Tire Corporation? I believe that American Tire Corporation and American Seashores International are exactly the same company. Why wouldn’t they just come out and tell us that? Remember the Chinese tire failures at the beginning of the tire shortage? Their company would not want their “new” company linked with that legacy. The use of the word “American”, tries to distract us from their previous associations with defunct brands. American Tire Corporation goes one step further, by claiming to be supported by the US Government in their press releases. To that I say….something unprintable.

Why do I think they are the same company? Well, let’s start with the obvious. Their website. Remember the structure of their previous website ? Well, here’s ATC’s website ….almost an exact copy in style and structure. Then, there are the contact emails: American Seashore’s contact address was 270049@gmail.com . ATC’s? Well, it is 5980R63@gmail.com . Still not convinced? Ok, how about the fact that both their URL’s end in .us. Nobody uses .us, yet both these companies share the same URL ending.

What about physical addresses? The address listed is a P.O. Box in Chino, CA, for American Tire. Where was American Seashores located? Why, El Monte, CA, less than a 30 minute drive away.  I was not able to go through a DBA search in the county where they are located, but I am willing to bet that the DBA for American Seashores is “American Tire.” BTW, a California search  at their Secretary of State’s office for American Tire Corporation turned up nothing, while American Seashores is quite easy to find.

What does all this mean? Well, nothing yet. You’re allowed to have a DBA, or even change your business name entirely. They are acting as if they are an entirely new company, worthy of investment, without disclosure of their previous associations/ and or business doings in full view of the tire industry.

There is also something very interesting I found out by digging into the legal history of American Tire Corporation. Apparently, back in May, American Tire Distributors filed a trademark infringement case against American Tire Corporation. Upon being served with papers, Dr.  Hengyucius never bothered to show up, nor did he send an attorney to file papers on his behalf to the courts. American Tire has filed for a motion of default judgement against ATC. Basically, this means that should the court rule, and Dr. Hengyucius never shows up, then ATC will lose the case. It has been filed in Federal District Court, as this is not a state matter. They could very well lose the right to use American Tire Corporation as a name, due to this action, and suffer financial damages as a result. The court has yet to rule, but we’ll let you know when they do.

Doesn’t it seem odd to you, that a corporation who will be building a property in the 100’s of Millions wouldn’t bother to send a lawyer to file documentation on their behalf? Please give us your responses.

If ATC would like to clarify this, and we are mistaken, we would be more than happy to print their response, and our retraction. In the meantime, we are reserving judgment, and looking forward to seeing the ever-elusive super OTR complex in Washington.

Signing off….

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Titan Raises Pricing: Rubber and Steel to Blame?

September 9th, 2008 by admin
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When Titan raises pricing yet again on October 1st, the reason will once again be raw material costs. Now, with oil being in a relative freefall, you have to wonder where these extra costs are coming from.

Well, I will tell you. Natural rubber stocks are low, and there is speculation in that market, just like there is in the oil markets. Adding to that concern is civil unrest in Thailand, the #1 producer of rubber in the world. A rail strike in the southern portion of Thailand has sent prices of rubber skyrocketing to $3 USD a Kilogram, which no buyer will pay. The union leaders of Thailand have promised a 3 month strike to force their current Prime Minister from power.

Goodyear and Bridgestone are the lucky buyers who will be able to get their hands on the October supplies of rubber. Some rubber dealers are hedging their bets on selling, as they fear that prices may move even higher.

At the end of August, China decided to jack up its export tariffs on coke ( a primary ingredient in the manufacturing process of steel) from 25 to 40%. Couple that with booming overseas construction in China, and worldwide increases in demand, and you get a huge “Ouch!”.

I predict that this will not be the last price increase announced this year. All we can hope is that the increases remain in the low double digits.

Get your tires while they are still relatively cheap.

We’ll keep you up to date with the latest in the OTR industry. Until then, I’ll be…

Signing off…

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CMA Gains Prestige As a 2nd Tier Manufacturer

August 28th, 2008 by admin
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Hi, everyone.

We’ve admired DoubleCoin for not being like all the other Chinese OTR tire manufacturers for awhile now. It seems that sentiment is picking up steam in a broader segment  of the tire industry as well.

Tire Review Online has just done an exhaustive profile of DoubleCoin, and their chairman, Fan Xian. It stops just short of a glowing review. They have become the 19th largest tire manufacturer in the world, along with being the second biggest in China (although I might add, they are 1st when it comes to quality in that country).

You can check out the full article here.

We’ll keep you up to date. In the meantime, stay tuned for our post on so-called “green” developments in the tire industry.

Signing off…

CMA Gana Prestigio como el Segundo Productor de Neumáticos

Hola a todos.
Hemos admirado a DoubleCoin por no ser como los otros fabricantes chinos de llantas OTR por algún tiempo. Pero al parecer ese sentimiento está creando otros sentimientos en un segmento más amplio de la industria.
Tire Review Online ha realizado un exhaustivo análisis de DoubleCoin, y su presidente, Fan Xian. Se queda un poco corto de ser un análisis brillante. Se han convertido en el fabricante 19 de neumáticos a nivel mundial, y el Segundo más grande en China (pero Yo podría decir que es el número uno si a calidad se refiere en ese país).
Puedes revisar el artículo completo aquí.
Te mantendremos informado. Mientras tanto sigue sintonizado por nuestros artículos sobre los últimos adelantos “verdes” en la industria.

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Titan Says “You’re Just Jealous”

August 22nd, 2008 by admin
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It’s been a busy week in tire news, and Titan has just released their latest update on their 63’s.

We’ve heard rumors of these things failing in 24-48 hours in real world tests, including one report of  the tires interfering with hydraulic systems. Now, this is currently only conjecture, based on hearsay, but that’s what we’re hearing.

Evidently,  the rumors have reached the ears of”The Grizz” , and he is out to set the record straight (or at least calm down his stockholders). Titan sent out a press release just a few minutes ago, where he talks about the performance of said rubber:

“The rumors of failed tires and performance that have been circulating are false. As viewers can see, these big daddy tires are great. Our agricultural business also continues to grow. It may be to our competitors’ dismay, but Titan is looking forward to a great 2008 with even more success to follow in 2009.”

Now here’s a thought: Maury says they’re running great, but he’s not exactly a disinterested party. Wouldn’t it be better to have a Haul Truck operator come out and say, in effect ” These things are great. I’ve run Michelins and Bridgestones, but these are just incredible. I’ve been running X number of hours, and still haven’t had a single problem.”

Hey, it’s great that Oppenheimer is reporting nice things about them. They’ve talked to the managers of the Titan plant, who say they haven’t had a tire failure yet. Ok, good. Again, not the most impartial of sources. We would like to hear from someone who has hands on experience with the tire.

Until then, Mr. Taylor has the upper hand on rumors, but not by much. Current stock prices are not helping his case, as something seems to have spooked investors. Take a look at Titan stock, as it is currently underperforming against all major industrial averages:

Titan is in a slump.

Titan stock is sliding down.

That has to hurt, and we are guessing that’s why Mr. Taylor is taking the time out his busy schedule to address this issue.

We’re weighing the evidence here. Until the folks from Titan volunteer some hard data, or someone who actually uses these tires and equipment steps forward, we won’t come down on one side or the other.Until we see some concrete evidence, we’re reserving judgment.

When we hear something, you will be the first to know.

Signing off…

Titan Dice: “Simplemente están Celosos”

Ha sido una semana con muchas nuevas noticias sobre neumáticos, a la vez Titan lanzó su última versión de neumáticos de 63’.
Hemos escuchado rumores de que estas llantas fallan después de 24 a 48 horas de pruebas en condiciones reales, incluyendo un reporte de que estos neumáticos interfieren con el sistema hidráulico. Pero bueno esta es solamente una conjetura basada en rumores, pero eso es lo que hemos oído.
Evidentemente, los rumores han llegado a oídos de la compañía, así es que ellos han salido a aclarar los hechos (o por lo menos calmar a sus accionistas). Titan ha enviado un comunicado de prensa hace unos minutos, donde hablan del desempeño de sus cauchos por así decirlo:
“Los rumores acerca de llantas que fallan y mal desempeño que han circulado son falsos. Como los presentes pueden ver, estos grandes neumáticos son excelentes. Nuestros negocios en agricultura siguen creciendo. Este puede ser un pesar para nuestros competidores, pero Titan se proyecta a tener un gran 2008 y un mayor éxito por venir en el 2009.”
Ahora, aquí va una idea: Maury dice que corren muy bien, pero él no es exactamente una parte desinteresada. ¿Acaso no sería mejor que un operador de remolques viniera y dijera que de hecho ” Estas llantas son grandiosas. Yo he usado Michelinis y Bridgestons, pero estas son simplemente increíbles, las he utilizado un número X de horas y siguen sin ningún problema.”?
Oigan, seria grandioso que Oppenheimer estuviera reportando cosas buenas acerca de ellos. Han hablado con los gerentes de Titan, quienes dicen que no han tenido ni una sola falla de los neumáticos todavía. Muy bien, pero nuevamente no son las Fuentes más imparciales, a nosotros nos gustaría oír de alguien que tenga experiencia práctica con este neumático.
Mientras tanto el Sr. Taylor tiene la voz más alta en los rumores, pero no con mucha ventaja. Los precios actuales de sus acciones tampoco les ayudan mucho en este caso porque al parecer algo ha asustado a los inversionistas, echen un vistazo a las acciones de Titan y verán como su comportamiento está por debajo de los promedios de la industria:
El inventario de Titan está disminuyendo.
Esto ha causado daño a la compañía, y es por eso que nosotros creemos que el Sr. Taylor está utilizando tiempo de su ocupado horario para hablar de este aspecto.
Nosotros estamos evaluando la evidencia, y hasta que el personal de Titan nos ayuden con alguna evidencia contundente, o alguien que de hecho utilice estos neumáticos y equipo salga a la luz, nosotros no nos inclinaremos hacia ningún lado. Hasta no conocer evidencia concreta nos reservamos cualquier conclusión.
Apenas nos enteremos de algo vosotros seraís los primeros en saberlo.

Titan diz “Vocês estão com ciúmes”

Está foi uma semana cheia de notícias sobre pneus, e a Titan acabou de soltar as últimas informações deles nos pneus de 63’.

Nós escutamos rumores destas coisas falhando em 24-48 horas nos testes mundiais, incluindo um relatório destes pneus interferindo com o sistema hidráulico. Agora, isto é correntemente uma hipótese, basado em boatos, mas é isto que nós temos ouvido.

Evidentemente, este rumor chegou até os ouvidos do “Grizz”, e ele vai logo por os pingos nos is, (ou pelo menos acalmar os acionistas deles). Titan soltou um relatório de imprensa à alguns minutos atrás, onde ele fala sobre o desempenho da tão falada borracha:

Os rumores de pneus falhando em relação ao desempenho que está sendo veiculado são falsos. Como os telespectadores podem ver, estes pneus grandes do papai são ótimos. Nosso negócio agricultural também continua a crescer. Isto talvez seja o desalento dos nossos concorrentes, mas a Titan está esperando um ótimo 2008 e com muito mais sucesso a seguir em 2009.”

Agora, aqui vai uma idéia: Maury diz que eles estão rodando bem, mas ele não é exatamente uma parte desinteressada. Não teria sido melhor ter um rebocador de caminhão vir e dizer, com efeito “ estes pneus são ótimos. Já rodei com Michelin e Bridgestone, mas estes são incríveis. Já rodei um número X de horas, e ainda não tive sequer um probleminha.”

Ei, é ótimo que Oppenheimer está relatando coisas boas sobre eles. Eles já falaram com os gerentes da fábrica da Titan, que dizem que eles ainda não tiveram uma falha nos pneus. Ok, bom. Novamente, não é um fonte imparcial. Nós queremos ouvir de alguém que tem as mãos cheias de experiência com pneus.

Até então, o Sr. Taylor tem as mãos em cima dos rumores, mas não por muito tempo. Os preços correntes das ações não tem ajudado o caso dele, como se algo tivesse assustado os investidores. Dê uma olhada nas ações da Titan, como está correntemente com um desempenho baixo quando comparada com outras grandes indústrias na média:

Ação da Titan está descendo.

Isto tem que doer, e nós achamos que isto é o porque o Sr. Taylor acabou arrumando tempo em sua agenda tão ocupada para tratar deste assunto.

Nós estamos pesando as evidências aqui. Até que o pessoal da Titan resolva liberar alguma informação mais consistente, ou alguém que realmente use estes pneus e equipamentos dê um passo a frente. Nós não caimos matando em um lado ou outro. Até nós vermos evidências concretas, nós vamos nos reservar quanto aos julgamentos.

Quando nós ouvirmos algo, você será o primeiro a saber.

Desligando………

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Goodyear To Give Union City Workers 2 Week “Vacation”

August 19th, 2008 by admin
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We don’t usually cover light truck and passenger tires around here, with the exception of the Chinese dumping situation. However, several things are affecting the tire industry at once, and we thought it prudent to keep you abreast of the happenings.

It seems Goodyear is closing the doors of its Union City, TN plant for two weeks. In the meantime, workers will have to go on temporary unemployment. Now, most of these workers are unionized, and have an agreement with the USW (United Steel Workers). If that name looks conspicuous, it is because they are the ones who brought the original claims of dumping against Chinese tire manufacturers. The so-called “sub-pay” fund helps employees out if there are layoffs or work stoppages. The only weakness the fund has is this: Goodyear is the one who pays into the fund, based on the number of hours its employees work.

So, Goodyear employees will be drawing on the fund for two weeks, which will exhaust the fund. In the meantime, since there will not be anyone working, Goodyear doesn’t have to pay into the fund. Who came up with this strategy? I am guessing the accountants…and I believe the conversation went something like this:

Accountant: Hey, why do we make these payments to the Union every month?

Executive: Well, that’s just in case there are layoffs or something. We’ve had to make some concessions over the years.

Accountant: Do you have any idea how much we’ve paid out this year alone?

Executive: No.

Accountant: Enough to boost our profits for this quarter an extra penny or so.

Executive: So, what you’re saying is, we can make the Union pay their salary for two weeks, and we don’t have to contribute to the fund for this pay period, either. In addition, we can sell the existing inventory we already have at the higher prices going into effect in September.

Accountant: Technically, yes. You would have to deal with the anger of the employee population, though. The fund only pays out $.80 on the dollar.

Executive: Isn’t that why we pay unemployment taxes?

Accountant: Well, yes.

Executive: I’ll call HR and have them draw something up.

The sad thing is, I’m probably not too far off with this characterization. I’m not a big fan of Unions, for a number of reasons, but I’m also not a fan of shareholders trumping the concerns of the people who contribute most to your success.

I hold stock in several companies, and if 3c a share was the difference between somebody making their mortgage payment, and me making slightly less on a stock sale, I hope I’d just give it to them. Who wants to be the reason behind another person’s misery?

The question now is, “Where does Goodyear go from here?”. They’ve depleted the emergency fund, the safety net for their workers. What happens if things really go south, and there are massive layoffs?

No one can say, but I can tell you one thing: My next set of radials won’t be Goodyears.

Signing off…

Goodyear Dará a trabajadores de Union City 2 Semanas de “Vacación”

Nosotros normalmente no cubrimos noticias sobre neumáticos para camiones livianos y vehículos de pasajeros en este espacio, con la excepción del caso de “dumping” chino, de todas maneras muchas circunstancias están afectando la industria al mismo tiempo, y pensamos que sería prudente mantenerlos al tanto de los últimos hechos.
Al parecer Goodyear está cerrando las puertas de su planta ubicada en Union City, TN por dos semanas. Mientras que sus trabajadores tendrán que estar temporalmente sin empleo, la mayoría de estos trabajadores se encuentran sindicalizados y tienen un acuerdo con USW (Trabajadores del Acero Unidos por sus siglas en Inglés). Si ese nombre les suena conocido es porque ellos son los que originalmente llevaron el caso de “dumping” en contra de los fabricantes de llantas de China. Los así llamados fondos de los sub-pagos ayuda a los empleados en caso de que hayan despidos o períodos sin trabajo. La única debilidad de este fondo es que Goodyear es quien aporta económicamente a este, basado en el número de horas trabajadas pos sus empleados.
De esta manera los empleados de Goodyear estarán retirando estos fondos por dos semanas, lo cual agotará el fondo. Mientras, debido a que no habrá nadie trabajando, Goodyear no hará aportes al fondo. ¿A quién se le ocurrió esta estrategia? Yo creo que a los contadores…y creo que la conversación fue algo así:

Contador: Oigan, ¿Por qué hacemos estos pagos a la Unión cada mes?
Ejecutivo: Bueno, esto es en caso de que haya despidos o algo. Hemos tenido que dar algunas concesiones con el pasar de los años.
Contador: ¿Tiene alguna idea de cuánto hemos pagado este año solamente?
Ejecutivo: No.
Contador: Suficiente como para incrementar nuestras ganancias de este cuatrimestre en más o menos un centavo.
Ejecutivo: O sea que me estás diciendo que podemos hacer que la Unión pague los salarios por dos semanas, y que además de eso nosotros no tenemos que contribuir al fondo, a más de esto, podemos vender inventario existente a los precios más altos que entran en vigencia en Septiembre.
Contador: Técnicamente, sí. Pero Tú tendrás que lidiar con la ira de los empleados porque el fondo solamente paga $.80 por cada dólar.
Ejecutivo: ¿Acaso no es por eso que nosotros pagamos impuestos por desempleo?
Contador: Bueno, sí.
Ejecutivo: Voy a llamar a recursos humanos para empezar a diseñar algo.

La parte triste es que probablemente Yo no estoy muy fuera de la realidad con esta caracterización. Yo no soy un gran fanático de los sindicatos, por un gran número de razones, pero tampoco soy fanático de accionistas levantando falsas preocupaciones acerca de la gente que son quienes hacen la mayor contribución para el éxito de la empresa.
Yo tengo acciones en algunas compañías y si $0.03 por acción es la diferencia entre alguien que puede pagar su hipoteca, y Yo ganando un poquito menos en la venta de mis acciones, Yo espero simplemente dárselo a ellos. ¿Quién quiere ser la razón detrás de la miseria de otra persona?
La pregunta es, ¿A dónde va Goodyear después de esto? Ellos han utilizado el fondo de emergencia, la red de seguridad de sus trabajadores, ¿Qué va a pasar si las cosas realmente van al sur, y ocurren despidos masivos?
Nadie lo puede decir, pero Yo les puedo decir una cosa: mi próximo juego de radiales no será de Goodyear.

A tip of the hat goes to Northwest Tennessee Today, who has the full story over on  their site.

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“We’re Too Good For You Anyhow”, Says ATC

August 19th, 2008 by admin
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In case you hadn’t heard, American Tire Corporation’s unsolicited bid for Goodyear’s Topeka, KS plant was rejected by Goodyear’s Board of Directors. ATC’s quest was at best, Quixotic. It was an odd play for a larger share of the OTR market, especially since Goodyear was not under any external pressure to sell.

Like all spurned suitors, they have quickly found a much hotter girl that is coming to prom with them, although nobody has actually seen her. ATC makes the claim that they have purchased 520 acres of land in Washington, where they will be building a $500M facility. They also plan to buy another 500 or so acres, just to prove that they can (my words, not theirs). All the equipment should be in place by the end of August, although they will not start operations until an–as yet–unannounced point in the future.

As an aside, someone over at Tire Review tried to confirm this with the Seattle-Post Intelligencer, and they had not heard the first thing about it. You would think, if you were bringing new jobs to the area, that you would:

  1. Contact the local press, so that they could publicize your awesome business, and bring in extra investment.
  2. Contact the city(county, state) government and petition for a tax incentive, based on the boost to the local economy. Washington State has a high unemployment rate, and any new businesses outside of the tech arena are great news, especially ones with 500M dollar commitment to the region.

If they had done either of those things, a newspaper would have picked up wind of it ages ago. This is either an enormous PR blunder, or they are trying unsuccessfully to build a buzz within the industry. ATC sends out a press release whenever someone takes a coffee break, so people may have just assumed they were crying “Wolf” yet again.

We don’t know at this point whether things are set in stone, or if this is yet another deal that will fall through. We do predict, if they don’t get their act together soon, ATC will spend most of their prom night stuffed in a locker by the Co-Captains of the football team: Michelin, Bridgestone, and Goodyear.

Signing off…

“De todas formas Nosotros somos demasiado Buenos para ti”, Dice ATC

En caso de que no hayan escuchado, la Corporación de Neumáticos Americanos (ATC) sin ser solicitados hizo una oferta por la planta de Goodyear en Topeka, KS, la cual fue rechazada por el comité de Directores de Goodyear. La propuesta de ATC fue la mejor, Quixotic. Esto fue un raro juego por una gran parte del Mercado de llantas OTR, especialmente porque Goodyear no estaba bajo ninguna presión externa para vender.
Como todos los pretendientes rechazados, ellos pronto encontraron una pareja mucho más atractiva que irá al baile con ellos, pero de hecho nadie realmente la ha visto. ATC dice haber comprador 520 acres de terreno en Washington donde van a construir una planta por $500 millones. A la vez están planeando comprar otros 500 acres, solamente para probar que ellos pueden (palabras mías, no de ellos). Todo el equipo deberá estar instalado a finales de Agosto, pero las operaciones no iniciarán hasta un futuro no anunciado todavía.
Al mismo tiempo, alguien en Tire Review ha tratado de confirmar esto con el informante del Seattle-Post y todavía no han tenido ninguna noticia al respecto. Uno se imaginaría que si están llevando nuevos trabajos al área, harían los siguiente:
1.Contactar la prensa local, de esta manera ellos podrían publicitar su asombroso negocio, y atraer otras inversiones.
2.Contactar al gobierno de la ciudad (condado, estado) y hacer peticiones por incentivos fiscales, basado en el impulso a la economía local. El estado de Washington tiene una alta tasa de desempleo por lo que cualquier nuevo negocio fuera del área de tecnología son buenas noticias, especialmente aquellos con capitales de $500M de dólares comprometidos con la región.
Si hubieran hecho alguna de estas cosas, el periódico hubiera captado esta noticia mucho tiempo atrás. Este es una enorme demagogia o están tratando, sin éxito, de hacer ruido en la industria. ATC envía comunicados de prensa hasta cuando alguien toma un receso para tomar un café, así es que la gente posiblemente asuma que solo fueron aullidos otra vez.
Nosotros no sabemos en este punto si las cosas están escritas en piedra, o si este es otro trato que nunca se concretará, lo que sí predecimos es que si no actúan pronto, ATC pasará la mayor parte de la noche del baile encerrado en un casillero por los Co-Capitanes del equipo de fútbol: Michelin, Bridgestone, y Goodyear.

Nós somos bons demais para vocês” diz a ATC

Caso vocês ainda não ouviram, a oferta não solicitada da American Tire Corporation para a fábrica da Goodyear em Topeka, KS foi rejeitada pela diretoria da Goodyear. A indagação da ATC foi na melhor da hipóteses, Quixotic. Foi um jogada estranha para uma grande parte do mercado de pneus OTR, especialmente porque a Goodyear não estava com pressa nenhuma para vender.

Como qualquer rejeição a um pretendente, eles rapidamente encontraram uma garota muito mais atraente para ir ao baile de formatura com eles, no entanto ninguém nunca viu esta garota. ATC afirma que eles compraram 520 acres de terra em Washington, onde eles construirão uma instalação de $500 milhões de dólares. Eles também estão planejando comprar outros 500 acres ou mais, só para provar que eles podem ( minhas palavras, não as deles). Todos os equipamentos deveriam estar instalados até o fim de agosto, no entanto eles não operarão até um – que ainda – ponto que deverá ser anunciado no futuro.

À parte, alguém na Tire Review tentou confirmar isto com o Seattle-Post Intelligencer, como se eles não tivessem ouvido nada a respeito. Você pensaria que, se alguém estivesse trazendo novos empregos para a área, ele fariam:

  1. Chamariam a imprensa local, onde eles poderiam veicular o negócio maravilhoso deles, e trazer até investimentos extras.

  2. Falariam com o prefeito e governador do estado e entrariam com uma petição para redução de impostos, baseando no aumento da economia local. O estado de Washington tem um índice alto de desemprego, e qualquer negócio novo fora da área deles é notícia boa, especialmente aqueles com o compromisso de 500 milhões de dólares para a região.

Se eles tivessem feito qualquer uma destas coisas, algum jornal teria publicado uma matéria disto anos atrás. Isto é um engano enorme ou eles estão tentando ganhar publicidade dentro do ramo, sem sucesso. ATC manda uma informação oficial toda vez que alguém para para tomar um cafezinho, então as pessoas podem assumir que eles estão chorando as pitangas novamente.

A esta altura, nós não sabemos em pé as coisas estão, ou se este será um outro negócio que cairá por terra. Nós fazemos previsões de que se eles não se comportarem bem, a ATC logo irá passar os bailes da vida socado em armarinhos dos capitães do time de football: Michelin, Bridgestone, Goodyear.

Desligando….

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USITC Affirms Chinese OTR Tire Duties

August 15th, 2008 by admin
Respond

At 11:00 AM EST, the USITC voted to affirm the current duties that it has placed on Chinese OTR.

They will be issuing a complete statement later on today, which we link to in its entirety when made available.

The current statement is located here .

Stay tuned for updates to this post.

Update: 9/15/08 3PM EST

In the news report listed on the ITC website( available here ), the ITC voted to reaffirm their preliminary findings showing that Chinese OTR does materially damage jobs and pricing here in the us.

The vote, at 5-1 in favor of affirmation, and stated that the dumping duties will not be retroactively applied to tires that entered the US before Feb. 20th. 2008.

Update 9/15/08 4PM EST

Titan has posted their reaction to the news.

We’ll be following the effects of this decision here on the blog, and apply for a copy of the full report when it is made available in September.

Signing off…..

USITC confirma impostos para pneus OTR chineses

Às 11:00 da manhã, a USITC confirmou em votação os impostos que eles colocaram para os OTR chineses.

Eles irão editar um relatório completo hoje mais tarde, o qual nós estaremos ligados na sua totalidade quando estiver disponível.
O relatório corrente pode ser encontrado aqui. here .

Fique ligado para mais informações a este respeito.

Atualização:09/15/08 3 horas da tarde

Na página de notícias na website da ITC, ( disponível aqui here ), a ITC reconfirmou em votação as averiguações preliminares mostrando que os OTR chineses causam materialmente danos no trabalho e nos preços aqui nos EUA.

Votaram 5 contra 1 a favor das afirmações, e relataram que os impostos das liquidações não serão retroativos para os pneus que entraram nos EUA antes do dia 20 de fevereiro de 2008.

Ataulização: 09/15/08 4 horas da tarde

Titan divulgou o parecer deles their reaction para a imprensa.

Nós estaremos seguindo os efeitos destas decisões aqui neste blog e solicitaremos uma cópia completa do relatório, quando estiver disponível em setembro.

Desligando…..

USITC Confirma Obligaciones de Neumáticos OTR Chinos

A las 11:00 AM ESTE, USITC votó para confirmar las obligaciones actuales que se han puesto sobre los neumáticos OTR Chinos.
Ellos enviarán un pronunciamiento complete al respecto está tarde que nosotros vincularemos con está página cuando esté disponible.
El pronunciamiento actual está aquí .
Esté atento por nuevos pronunciamientos.
Actualizado: 9/15/08 3PM ESTE
En las noticias reportadas en la página web de ITC (disponibles aquí ), ITC votó reafirmando los hallazgos iníciales que muestran que neumáticos Chinos OTR efectivamente ha causado daño en los empleos y precios en los Estados Unidos.
La votación de 5 a 1 a favor de la afirmación y la proclamación de que las obligaciones de “dumping” no serán retroactivas para llantas que hayan entrado a US antes de Febrero 20 del 2008.
Actualizado: 9/15/08 4PM ESTE
Titan ha enviado su reacción sobre las actuales noticias.
Nosotros seguiremos los efectos de esta decisión aquí en el blog, y aplicaremos por una copia del reporte completo una vez que esté disponible en Septiembre.

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Goodyear and Yokohama Raise Pricing on OTR Tires

August 6th, 2008 by admin
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It’s time, once again, for the latest round of price increases: Drumroll, please!

Starting September 1st, pricing for Goodyear OTR will increase by 7%, and pricing on light and medium truck tires will increase by 10%.

Yokohama will have a more modest increase on OTR, which will come in at around 4%. Their  medium and light truck tire lines will see a rise of 6% overall. They are also looking seriously at inline price increases, which should be announced later.

Keep checking in, as I’m sure we will see announcements by Bridgestone, Michelin, and Titan in the very near future.

Signing off…

Goodyear y Yokohama Elevarán Precios de Llantas OTR

Es tiempo, una vez más, por la última ronda de incremento de precios: Redoble de tambores, por favor!
Empezando el primero de Septiembre, el precio de neumáticos OTR Goodyear incrementará en 7%, y el precio de llantas para camiones medianos y pequeños incrementará en 10%.
Yokohama tendrá un modesto incremento en llantas OTR de alrededor de 4%. Y los neumáticos para camiones medianos y ligeros subirán de precio en 6%, también están planeando seriamente incrementar el precio de productos en línea, lo cual será anunciado más tarde.
Manténganse pendientes, que estoy seguro que veremos anuncios similares de Bridgestone, Michelin, y Titan en un futuro muy cercano.

Компании Goodyear и Yokohama поднимают цены на внедорожные шины

Ну вот и снова настало время для очередного раунда повышения цен. (Звучит барабанная дробь.)

Итак, начиная с 1 сентября цены на крупногабаритные шины Goodyear поднимутся на 7%, а на шины для легких и средних грузовиков – на 10%.

У компании Yokohama ожидается более скромное повышение цен на крупногабаритные шины – оно составит около 4%. Что касается линеек шин для средних и легких грузовиков, то цены увеличатся в целом на 6%. Компания также серьезно рассматривает возможность увеличить цены внутри линейки, о чем должно быть объявлено позже.

Продолжайте следить за развитием событий. Уверен, что в ближайшем будущем мы услышим новости от компаний Bridgestone, Michelin и Titan.

До связи.

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Heavy Treaddin’: The (almost) All Titan Edition

July 31st, 2008 by admin
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There have a been a few big blurbs in the industry that are worth mentioning this week, and to be quite frank with you, most of them have been in coverage of Titan. So without further adieu, we present “the (almost) All Titan Edition” of Heavy Treaddin’

Titan Puts Their First 63″ Tire into action

Highlight: The first 63″ Titan Giant OTR Tire shipped this week into a regular commercial environment. Titan’s press release states that they will run in the Canadian Oil Sands. I was a little dubious when Maury Taylor announced they’d ship these things in July, as were a few other people. They deserve the bump that their stock is receiving for bringing these supplies online.

Titan Reports Record Sales

Highlight: Titan’s revenue goes up 28% from 1st quarter. This is very nice. Their net income increased somewhere around 260%. That’s before shipping this new beast. It looks like their stock is set to jump again. Where will they invest next? They have to do something with this new cash.

Maury Taylor and the Chinese Dumping Hearings

Lowlight: I have been doing a little research with regards to the Chairman of Titan Tire, Mr. Taylor, specifically about his run for the Presidency  a few years back. It turns out that “The Grizz” was(and possibly still is) a notorious union buster. While that did bode well for his Republican street cred, it does make one wonder why he was so quick to jump in bed with the USW. Perhaps he had a change of heart, perhaps he harbors ill will against the Communists, perhaps he has been reading “The Art of War”….”the enemy of my enemy is my friend”…anyone….anyone….

and now for the almost part…

I go to great lengths here at Heavy Treaddin’ for this not to become some part of a commercial for our company. From time to time, however, it becomes necessary to recognize our sponsor, and the company we belong to. So, without any more delays…

BuyBigTires.com Announces Website Redesign

That’s right, we finally did it. We gave the website improved usability(it’s easier to find stuff) added new resources, and now we are officially the home of a bi-weekly video magazine “OTR Weekly with Tom White”.

So go on over and check it out.

Thus ends the commercial. Seriously, though. Check out the new tools that we have added. They will save you a ton of time and headaches.

Stay tuned, as we continue to bring you the best in news and commentary from the OTR Tire Industry.

Signing off….

Heavy Treaddin’: все (почти) о компании Titan

На этой неделе в нашей отрасли появилось несколько новостей, которые заслуживают упоминания, и, будем откровенны, большая их часть связана с компанией Titan. Так что без лишних проволочек представляем вам выпуск Heavy Treaddin’, (почти) полностью посвященный компании Titan.

Titan выпускает первые 63-х дюймовые шины

Новость плюс: На этой неделе компанией Titan были выпущены на рынок первые 63-дюймовые гигантские промышленные шины. В пресс-релизе компании говорится, что шины начнут поставляться в Канаду для работы в битуминозных песках. Когда Мори Тейлор объявил, что первые шины будут поставлены в июле, я сомневался, и был в своих сомнениях не одинок. Теперь же видно, что рост стоимости акций компании вполне ею заслужен.

Рекордные продажи у компании Titan

Новость плюс: выручка компании по сравнению с 1-м кварталом выросла на 28%. Это хорошо. Чистая прибыль выросла почти на 260%. И это еще до начала продаж новых супергигантских шин. Так что похоже, что акции компании опять подпрыгнут. Во что же они решат инвестировать? Ведь надо же что-то делать с такими деньгами?

Мори Тейлор и слушания по делу о китайском демпинге

Новость минус: Я поискал информацию о генеральном директоре компании Titan Tire г-не Тейлоре, особенно о том периоде его жизни несколько лет назад, когда он был кандидатом в президенты США. Оказывается, «Гризз Тейлор» был (а может и сейчас) известен своей нелюбовью к профсоюзам. Этот имидж играл ему на руку, когда он пытался завоевать голоса республиканцев, но невольно задумаешься, как он сумел так быстро спеться с профсоюзом сталелитейщиков USW. То ли Тейлор переменил взгляды, то ли просто не любит коммунистов, то ли прочитал Сунь Цзы «Искусство войны»: «враг моего врага – мой друг»… кто бы то ни былкто бы то ни был.

Я делаю все, что можно…

чтобы моя статья не воспринималась как реклама нашей компании. Однако время от времени приходится отдавать должное нашему спонсору и компании, которой мы принадлежим. Поэтому без лишних слов сообщаю вам, что…

Сайт BuyBigTires.com обновил дизайн

Да, да, мы, наконец, сменили дизайн. Мы сделали вебсайт более удобным для пользования, добавили новые возможности, и теперь раз в две недели вы можете посмотреть у нас на сайте видеожурнал «Недельный выпуск с Томом Уайтом».

Так что заходите и смотрите.

Конец рекламной паузы. А если серьезно, попробуйте наши новые настройки. Они сэкономят вам много времени и сил.

Оставайтесь с нами. а мы будет стараться комментировать все самые интересные события в сфере крупногабаритных шин.

До связи.

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How the Olympics Will Affect the OTR Tire Shortage

July 21st, 2008 by admin
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Hello again, faithful readers, OTR Prognosticators, and Viagra Spammers.

The Olympics are upon us yet again, and athletes from all over the world will be turning in the performance of a lifetime. They have eaten correctly, trained for hours on end, and practiced their triple gainer, double flip, with a twist of lime umpteen thousand times. The only thing that remains is to figure out how they will breathe.

It has been widely reported for years that the vast majority Asia’s air quality(from Beijing to India) is somewhat lower than aerosolized sewage, and China is doing something about it. Just a few weeks before the games begin, China has forcibly mandated(when you are a communist dictatorship, there is no other option) that it’s citizens park their cars, shut down factories, and use one square of toilet paper per person (wait, that’s Sheryl Crow). While the scientific validity of Global Warming may be up for debate, smog and air pollution are not, and this measure seems to be too little, too late. It is, to quote a common clique, so much flatulence on the eve of Katrina.

Nevertheless, the Chinese government feels it is necessary. Among the various manufacturing institutions temporarily shuttering their doors are the  presently unfashionable OTR tire manufacturers. We have heard that they will lose roughly 1 1/2 - 2 months of production. This will also apply to producers of medium truck and passenger tires. Some estimates we are getting from our suppliers say that some factories won’t get new product on the water until December.  This could be a good or bad thing, depending on your perspective.

If you are the Chinese government, this gives you the opportunity to deny that you have been flooding the US market with your subsidized product. You aren’t even producing tires for two whole months. This may give Congressman Davis and friends a little less satisfaction in their arguments before the ITC. Plus, they don’t have to pay to subsidize those tires, and their freight.

If you are a competitor, you can be happy that the price of rubber will be a little less volatile, since one of the greatest consumers of that commodity will be out of commission for a bit.

The only people who have a question mark spinning over their heads are consumers, as no-one knows what to think. Will the results of this be good, bad, or largely inconsequential?

We’re not holding our breath here, but if you are visiting Beijing, we recommend you do.

Keep checking in, and we’ll keep you up to date on the latest movements in the OTR industry.

Signing off…..

Como Afectarán las Olimpiadas la Escases de Neumáticos OTR

Hola de Nuevo fieles lectores, Pronosticadores de OTR y vendedores en línea de Viagra.
Las Olimpiadas están con nosotros nuevamente y atletas de todo el mundo se preparan para hacer el mejor desempeño de sus vidas, se han alimentado correctamente, entrenado por horas interminable, y han practicado su triple-ganador, doble mortal, con giro miles de veces. La única cosa que queda por averiguar es como van a respirar.
Ha sido reportado ampliamente y por varios años que la mayoría del aire en Asia (desde Pekín hasta India) tiene una calidad un poco más baja que aire del drenaje en aerosol y China está hacienda algo al respecto, precisamente unas pocas semanas antes de dar inicio a los juegos, China ha tenido que forzosamente mandar (cuando estás en una dictadura comunista no hay otra opción) que sus ciudadanos estacionen sus autos, cierren sus fabricas, y utilicen un cuadro de papel higiénico por persona (un momento, esa es Sheryl Crow). Mientras que la validez de datos científicos sobre el calentamiento global tal vez sea debatida, smog y contaminación del aire no. Esta medida parece haber sido tomada un poco demasiado tarde, así es, para citar un dicho popular, demasiadas flatulencias en la tarde de Katrina.
Por último, el gobierno Chino piensa que era necesario. Entre varias industrias que han cerrado sus puertas temporalmente están las hoy en día fuera de moda fábricas de llantas OTR, hemos escuchado sus pérdidas estarán cerca de 1 1/2 a 2 meses de producción. Esto también se aplicará a productores de neumáticos para camiones medianos y vehículos de pasajeros. Algunos estimados que hemos conseguido de nuestros vendedores dicen que algunas fábricas no enviarán Nuevo producto al Mercado hasta Diciembre. Esto puede ser una Buena o mala noticia dependiendo de vuestra perspectiva.
Si eres el gobierno Chino esta es la oportunidad para negar que han estado inundando el mercado estadounidense con sus productos subsidiados, ya que ni siquiera están produciendo llantas por dos meses, esto tal vez de al congresista David y sus amigos un poco de menor satisfacción en sus argumentos ante el ITC, además ellos no tendrán que pagar el subsidio a esos neumáticos y su flete.
Si tú eres un competidor, te puedes alegrar de que el precio del caucho vaya a ser un poco menos volátil, ya que uno de los más grandes consumidores de ese bien estará fuera del mercado por un tiempo.
Los únicos que están con un signo de interrogación dando vueltas sobre sus cabezas son los consumidores, ya que ninguno sabe que pensar, ¿Serán los resultados de esto buenos, malos, o tremendamente inconsecuentes?
Nosotros no estamos aguantando nuestra respiración aquí, pero si estas de visita en Pekín, te recomendamos que lo hagas.
Mantente visitándonos, y te mantendremos informado de los últimos movimientos en la industria de llantas OTR.

Как Олимпиада скажется на дефиците крупногабаритных шин

Здравствуйте верные мои читатели, предсказатели цен на шины и спаммеры!

Скоро начнутся Олимпийские игры, и спортсмены со всего мира соберутся, чтобы показать лучшее в своей жизни выступление. Все они соблюдали диету, бесконечно тренировались, тысячи раз выполняли свои тройные сальто назад, двойные перевороты, да еще прогнувшись. Непонятно только то, смогут ли они дышать в Китае.

Уже много лет мы слышим о том, что в большинстве стран Азии (от Пекина до Индии) воздух ничем не уступает запаху из канализации, и вот, наконец, Китай принимает меры для исправления ситуации. За несколько недель до начала Игр в Китае запретили (а в тоталитарной стране иные варианты не предусмотрены) гражданам пользоваться частными автомобилями, закрыли фабрики и предписали использовать не более одного куска туалетной бумаги на человека (или это уже что-то из репертуара Шэрил Кроу?). С научными аргументами в пользу глобального потепления еще можно спорить, но со смогом и загрязнением воздуха не поспоришь, хотя, похоже, и эти недостаточные меры приняты слишком поздно. Это, пользуясь известной цитатой, «много шума из ничего».

Тем не менее, китайское правительство считает, что без подобных мер не обойтись. Среди заводов и фабрик, которые на время остановят станки, будут также и печально известные производители внедорожных шин. По нашим сведениям, они потеряют от полутора до двух месяцев. То же можно сказать о производителях шин для средних грузовиков и пассажирских шин. По некоторым оценкам наших поставщиков, некоторые заводы смогут выпустить на рынок новую продукцию не раньше декабря. Это и хорошо, и плохо, в зависимости от точки зрения.

С точки зрения китайского правительства появляется возможность отрицать тот факт, что китайские производители наводняют американский рынок субсидированной продукцией. Ведь производство остановлено на два месяца. Это немного выбьет почву из под ног конгрессмена Дэвис и компания, когда они будут представлять свои аргументы на слушаниях в ITC. Кроме того, в течение двух месяцев не нужно будет выплачивать субсидии на производство шин и их перевозку.

Конкуренты китайских производителей могут радоваться, что цены на резину будут немного более стабильными, поскольку один из главных потребителей этого материала на некоторое время выбыл из игры.

Кому со своей оценкой ситуации никак не определиться, так это потребителям, так как никто не знает, что и думать. Каких последствий ждать: положительных, отрицательных или нулевых?

Итак, мы ждем, затаив дыхание, а если вы оказались в это время в Пекине, мы рекомендуем вам делать то же.

Продолжайте проверять новости, а мы будем рассказывать вам обо всем, что происходит в нашей отрасли.

До связи.

Como a escassez de pneus OTR será afetada pelas Olimpíadas.
Oi novamente, caros leitores, prognosticadores de pneus OTR e spammers de Viagra.
As Olimpíadas já estão aqui novamente, e os atletas do mundo inteiro farão apresentações memoráveis. Eles comeram corretamente, treinaram por horas a fio, praticaram saltos duplos, exercícios de barra, viradas e giros como um limão torcido inúmeras vezes. A única coisa que nos resta compreender é como eles irão conseguir respirar.
Por anos temos vistos reportagens da qualidade do ar da Ásia em sua totalidade ( de Beijing até a Índia ), que é um pouco pior do que um esgoto aromatizado, e a China está tentando resolver o problema. Com poucas semanas restando até o começo dos jogos, a China passou um mandato vigoroso ( e quando você é um ditador comunista, não há outra opção ), que os cidadãos estacionem os carros, que as fábricas parem de funcionar, e que usem somente um quadrado do rolo de papel higiênico, por pessoa ( espera, esta é a Sheryl Crow). Enquanto que podemos até discutir a validade científica do aquecimento global, fumaça e poluição do ar não são discutíveis, e estas medidas parecem que chegaram um pouco tarde. Isto é, citando um grupo de rodas comum, muita flatulência na véspera da Katrina.
Entretanto, o governo chinês acha que tudo isto é necessário. Entre várias fábricas fechando as portas temporáriamente, estãoas fábricas de pneus OTR presentemente em desuso. Nós ouvimos que eles irão perder duramente de um mês e meio a dois meses de produção. Isto também será aplicado aos fabricantes de pneus médio para caminhões e ônibus. Algumas estimativas estão vindo dos nossos fornecedores, que dizem que algumas fábricas não exportarão seus produtos até dezembro. Isto poderá ser algo positivo ou negativo, dependendo da sua perspectiva.
Se você fosse o governo chinês, isto daria a você uma oportunidade de negar as acusações feitas contra os produtos subsídiados que tem invadido o mercado americano. Você não estaria produzindo pneus por dois meses inteiros. Isto pode dar Congressman Davis and friends  ao representante do Congresso Davis e seus amigos um pouco menos de satisfação nos arguementos deles perante a ITC. Ainda mais, eles não teriam que pagar para subsídiar esses pneus, e o frete dos mesmos.
Se você for um competidor, você pode ficar feliz que o preço da borracha que estará menos volátil, uma vez que um dos grandes consumidores desta mercadoria estarão fora de ação por um tempo.
As únicas pessoas que ainda tem um ponto de interrogação girando em torno da cabeça deles são os consumidores, como ninguém sabe o que pensar. Os resultados destes fatos serão bons, ruins, ou inconsequentes?
Aqui, nós não estamos segurando nossas respirações, mas se você estiver visitando Beijing, nós aconselhamos a você fazê-lo.
Continue olhando, nós manteremos vocês informados com as últimas notícias da indústria de OTR.
Desligando……

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Chinese OTR Duties Have Been Finalized - Sort Of

July 11th, 2008 by admin
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Hey folks, we’re back with more information after a very quiet period for OTR news.

The UTC has finalized Chinese Import Duties for dumping here in the US, and all I can say is “Wow”. The top penalty that has been imposed is a whopping 210.48 percent, plus an additional duties totalling 5.62 percent.

In an interesting development, companies whose production has been cleared of rampant subsidization have seen preliminary duties levied by the UTC erased entirely. These companies should see their brand share grow, as customers see major brand tires evaporate due to steady demand.

Obligaciones de los Chinos en Llantas OTR han sido Finalizadas o Algo Así

Hola amigos, estamos de regreso con más información luego de un período un poco escaso de noticias de llantas OTR.
UTC ha finalizado las obligaciones sobre llantas OTR importadas de China por “dumping” aquí en US, y todo lo que puedo decir es “Wow”. La máxima penalidad que ha sido impuesta es un extraordinario 210.48%, más obligaciones adicionales que dan un total de 5.62%.
En un interesante desenvolvimiento compañías en donde se ha aclarado que su producción ha recibido gigantes subsidios han visto como las obligaciones preliminares, que eran obligatorias, de pago al UTC han sido eliminadas en su totalidad. Estas compañías deberían ver su porción de mercado crecer, y a la vez los clientes verán como las más grandes marcas de llantas se evaporan debido a una demanda estable.

Вопрос о пошлинах на китайские внедорожные шины решен – так или иначе

Ну что ж, после долгого «тихого» периода в отрасли внедорожных шин, у нас появились новости.

Федеральная торговая комиссия США приняла решение об импортных пошлинах для китайского демпинга в США, и мне остается только воскликнуть: «Ну и ну!» Максимальный штраф составляет 210,48% плюс дополнительная пошлина в размере 5,62%.

Интересно, что Комиссия решила не взимать с компаний, чья продукция не субсидировалась, предварительно начисленные пошлины. Таким образом, доля бренда этих компаний будет расти, а крупные бренды будут исчезать из-за стабильного спроса.

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Michelin and Belshina to Upgrade Capacity

June 26th, 2008 by admin
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This past week, Michelin and Belshina announced separately that they would be upping outputs by upgrading their facilities to produce more OTR Tires.

Michelin is making a $90M investment in their Lexington, SC plant. Michelin, unfortunately is not giving any details as to how much the plant will contribute to existing tire outputs.

Belshina, on the other hand, is saying they are looking at an increase of 7%. They are currently expanding their radial facilities, and will begin producing tires for Rigid Dumpers. They will begin with tires in the 35″ range, and expand to 37 different sizes by 2010.

Keep checking in, and we’ll keep you up to date on all the happenings industry-wide.

Michelin и «Белшина» собираются модернизировать производство

На прошлой неделе компании Michelin и «Белшина» объявили о том, что каждая из них собирается увеличить выпуск внедорожных шин за счет модернизации производства.

Michelin собирается инвестировать 90 млн. долларов в завод в Лексингтоне, шт. Южная Каролина. К сожалению, компания не дает никакой информации о том, каков будет вклад этого завода в увеличение производства шин.

С другой стороны, компания «Белшина» заявляет, что собирается увеличить выпуск продукции на 7%. В настоящее время идет расширение производства по выпуску радиальных шин, и компания скоро начнет выпускать шины для самосвалов с жесткой рамой. Первым будет запущено производство 35-дюймовых шин, а к 2010 году компания будет производить 37 различных размеров.

Оставайтесь с нами, и мы будет держать вас в курсе всех новостей отрасли.

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